The Inside World
by frostychan12
Summary: Four eccentric family members are somehow sucked into the world of Dark Cloud 2. They know the game by heart, but how will they manage becoming actual characters inside the game? Rated T because there will DEFINITELY be language.
1. Prologue

Okay, okay. Before you all kill me, I'm sorry for not updating "Promise." I really have been working on it, but it's hard to remember where I was going with it. So I've been searching for those notes I wrote down before starting the story so I can finish the chapter and keep you all from going mad from withdrawals.

Now, about the story. I've had this idea in my head, ever since I first played DC2. My family's reactions to playing the game (yes, even my parents play video games. How cool are they? ) were just so priceless, I had to put them into story form. I know the idea itself is a bit n00bish, but bear with me here. I know what I'm doing. ...I think.

So! You all know the drill! Please read and review! This is just the prologue; I'll have the next chapter up soon.

* * *

"Let go! You're doin' it wrong!"

"No, YOU let go!"

"Stop yelling!"

"Mo-om!"

Controllers were tugged on and buttons were smashed. The start-up screen of our favorite videogame, Dark Cloud 2, was half-way done loading. One of my brothers had supposedly come up with a way to make it load faster; unfortunately, this particular boy was "Mr. None-of-my-shortcuts-ever-work" and we knew that he would just make the situation worse. So my youngest brother took it upon himself to stop the Playstation's meltdown before it happened.

"Both of you, cut it out or you're grounded!" Mom shouted. The youngest gave a final stubborn tug on the controller, pulling the Playstation off of the shelf next to the television. The game console hit the floor and broke almost cleanly into two pieces. There was silence.

"…YOU BROKE IT!" Mom exclaimed, "Do you know how much that thing cost us!?"

"HE STARTED IT!" the youngest accused, pointing at his older brother. As the usual fistfight ensued, I stared at the television, frowning. The screen was still loading.

"…game still works," I said, pointing at the TV. The arguing ceased as everyone looked to where I was pointing. Mom frowned.

"It's probably frozen," she grumbled, "I can't believe you broke it…"

The start-up screen finally loaded, but Max wasn't on it like he usually was. All of the options were blank, even though the arrows were still there.

"Ah, see? You still broke it," the older brother said, almost cheerfully. The youngest glared at him.

"If you weren't trying to put in your stupid code, we wouldn't have this problem!"

"Stupid!? I resemble that remark!"

"How does that even make SENSE?"

"YOUR MOM DOESN'T MAKE SENSE."

The screen started acting up again, but naturally, I was the only one who noticed. Random numbers and symbols raced across the screen, glowing green and yellow. The screen glowed brighter and brighter until it was just white, and it lit up the room.

"--THE TELEVISION IS TURNING HOLY ON US!" the older brother suddenly shrieked, pointing.

That was the last thing any of us could remember before everything disappeared.

* * *

Ohoho. What will happen now, you ask? ...well, I can't tell you. THAT'S WHAT THE CHAPTERS ARE FOR, YOU SILLY GOOSE.


	2. Level 1: Welcome to Palm Brinks

Okay, so here's the first official chapter. It came out to be 18 pages - that's gotta be one of the longest chapters I've ever written!

So anyway. I was trying to imitate the start menu and everything, like in DC2, and I hope I got it accurately enough...but I guess that's up to you, readers! ;D Read and review, please!

Quick disclaimers: Dark Cloud 2 (also Dark Chronicles) is © Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., and NOT ME. However, any additional characters that do not belong to Sony are © me or whoever else they're based on.

* * *

_Press **START** to begin_

_Load Game? New Game? Extras? _

_**New Game** selected._

* * *

_**Player 1: **__Aurora_

_**Outfit Selected: **__Coral Snake Huntress_

_**Shoes Selected: **__Sexy Black Boots_

* * *

_**Player 2: **__Ragnarok_

_**Outfit Selected:**__ Mysterious Gold-Miner _

_**Shoes Selected:**__ Miner Boots_

* * *

_**Player 3: **__Hades_

_**Outfit Selected: **__Monochromatic Melodramatic _

_**Shoes Selected: **__Plain Black Boots_

* * *

_**Player 4: **__Frosty_

_**Outfit Selected: **__Little Sister's Teatime Dress_

_**Shoes Selected: **__Lovable Wing Shoes_

* * *

"Aw, crap…it's raining."

I groaned and opened my eyes groggily. I was met with a dark-grey sky and three raindrops plopping on my forehead. I sat up, shaking the moisture out of my hair, and looked around. Lying near me were three other people who I didn't recognize - one was a beautiful woman with long, curly black hair who was asleep, one was a boy with black, spiky hair and a black and gold trench coat, and the third was another boy with white, wavy hair. The third boy was already awake and frowning up at the rain with black, shining eyes.

"Normally, I wouldn't care about the rain, but not when I'm outside in it…my hair's gonna get all frizzy," the boy grumbled, continuing his complaint. I gasped and recognized the voice as my brother's.

"Hades?" I said out loud. What on Earth? Hades? Why couldn't I call him by his real name?

He blinked and glanced over at me.

"Oh, hey. You're awake."

I shook my head slightly.

"What the crap is going on?" I asked, "Where are we?"

"Uuuuh…dunno, don't care," Hades said casually, running a hand through his hair out of habit and looking around, "All I know is, we ain't in Kansas anymore, Toto." I rolled my eyes.

"…I will punch you, Hades. Shut up."

The other two - the boy and the woman - started coming to. The woman looked around and groaned.

"Oh, great. Rain. My hair's gonna get all frizzy now…" she grumbled, just as Hades had. I stifled a laugh. That was definitely my mother…which meant that the second boy was my youngest brother, who was apparently stunned speechless. For once.

"…actually, this sorta looks like Palm Brings," Hades noted, staring down the deserted street.

After glancing around, I realized that we were sitting right next to the "Polly's Bakery" sign, across the street from Cedric's Workshop. Hades and I stood up. My youngest brother - who, for some reason, I could only refer to as "Ragnarok" - was still stunned, and remained sitting. My mother tried to stand up, but slipped on the wet sidewalk in her tall black boots.

"Aurora! Are you okay?" I asked, helping her up. Aurora? Ragnarok? Why couldn't I say their names?

Aurora stretched.

"Yeah, I'm fi--" she began. She stopped short and stared down at her chest in amazement.

"Holy shit! Look at my boobs!" she exclaimed. Ragnarok sighed irritably and looked away with embarrassment, while Hades keeled over with laughter. I shrugged.

"Well, you can't have a video game team without the chick with really big boobs," I said. Hades shook his head, still laughing.

"Too true, too true."

An all-too familiar boy with a yellow shirt, denim overalls, and blonde hair hidden under a newsboy cap came running down the street. He stayed underneath the awnings to avoid getting wet.

"We're at the beginning of the game," Ragnarok said, finally speaking. Aurora frowned.

"What? That can't be right. We didn't get to see Monica's dad get murdered!" she said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "I guess we couldn't transport from ten billion years in the future to Palm Brinks while the page loads…"

"It wasn't ten billion," Ragnarok frowned.

"Well, whatever. What do we do now?" Aurora asked. Hades raised his hand.

"I vote we go inside Cedric's workshop and scare the hell outta Max and the old dude," he said, grinning. "Er, Cedric, I mean. You know. The guy who owns the shop."

"Hey, hey, hey. Just because we're in a video game doesn't mean you can swear all you want," Aurora interrupted.

"And yet you have no problem saying "holy-shit-look-at-my-boobs" in front of your three innocent children."

"Shut up, that's different."

"Your mom's different."

"…hell yeah, she is."

I sighed and raised my hand.

"I second Hades's vote. Standing out here is boring," I said, nodding at the workshop, "Besides, I've always wanted to hug Max. He's just so _cute._"

As everyone started to step forward, my good memory kicked in and I pulled them all back. "Hang on a sec."

"What is it now?" Aurora huffed.

"Don't you remember what happens at the beginning at the game?" I said, "Max goes in there, shows off his circus ticket, starts fixing some machine, then goes to the circus."

"…so?" the other three all muttered at the same time.

"**So** we need to get circus tickets so we can follow Max inside the tent!" I explained, waving my hands frantically, "Otherwise we're just gonna have to stand outside like a bunch of losers…not to mention, we won't get to see the awesome clown-juggling-elephant thing."

Hades looked thoughtful for a moment.

"…so we should split up?" he asked. I nodded.

"I'll go with Hades, then. Aurora, you take Ragna…rigoraga…rog…fine, you know what? I'm just gonna call you Rocky. Aurora, you take Rocky and go to City Hall. See if you can get four more tickets from someone. Scalp 'em if you have to, I don't care."

"Isn't that illegal?" Ragnarok asked, frowning.

"What are they gonna do, put us in virtual prison?" I said, rolling my eyes. "Besides, the police are never around City Hall - they just hang around the police station all day." Ragnarok shrugged and nodded.

Once we had our plan mapped out, we all split up. I watched Ragnarok and Aurora run down the street on the right side of the police station. Once they were out of sight, I tugged on Hades's sleeve.

"Come on, let's go."

We dashed across the street, ran up the steps to the workshop, and tugged the door open. Inside, it was warm, bright, and dry, which contrasted greatly with the weather outside. There were random tools and inventions lying around in neat piles, an in-progress Ridepod off in a corner, a very surprised Max and Cedric staring at us from the cash register--

Oh, crap.

There was an awkward pause

"Eheh…uh…surprise?" Hades laughed nervously, waving his hand meekly. Cedric frowned.

"You two kids ain't from around here, are ya?" he asked. Before I could come up with a valid excuse, Hades opened his big fat mouth.

"Oh, uh, we're not. See, we just moved here yesterday, and--"

"Moved here? Nah, there's no way of getting in or out of this town. How could you've moved?" Cedric asked suspiciously. I elbowed Hades.

"You idiot! The train, remember? It's not up and running yet!" I hissed. I straightened up and looked at Cedric. I was much better at lying on the spot, but I only used this awesome superpower for good and not evil. So I didn't use it much.

"Please excuse my brother, sir. He's an idiot," I started, "Um, you must be Cedric?"

Cedric's suspicious gaze didn't falter.

"…yep. What about it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We live by Parn's place…that small house on the corner? Anyway, my brother here wants to be a mechanic, and after visiting the mayor, he said that he should come visit you because you were the best in town." A little flattery never hurt anyone.

A big grin replaced the suspicious frown on Cedric's face.

"Well, why didn't you say so, kiddo? We'll getcha started!" he said enthusiastically, "You'd better work with Max for a while, first, before we get into anything serious. I gotta go soon, anyway."

Hades started to speak, but I covered his mouth with my hand and continued.

"Oh, thanks a lot! We really appreciate this," I gushed. Cedric gave a huge grin and started fixing this odd-looking machine behind the counter.

Max, the familiar blonde-haired boy I mentioned earlier, had been watching us with interest. Once the argument had passed, he shrugged and hopped down the steps to his own small workspace. As we followed him, Hades elbowed me.

"'We live by Parn's place?' 'My brother wants to be a mechanic?'" he whispered, agitated. I frowned and tweaked his nose playfully. He swatted my hand away.

"First off, Parn is awesome. Don't be dissin' the artist, yo," I said. Hades rolled his eyes at my failed gangster imitation. "And secondly, you were always building stuff as a kid. You wittle and carve stuff all the time out of wood. I can totally see you as a mechanic."

Max was already sitting down and pulling out his tool belt when we got to the bottom of the stairs. On the table in front of him was a colorful-looking vacuum that was so bizarre looking that it could only exist in a video game world.

"Hmm…it's the Anbar Vac 2. This is a pretty specialized hose attachment…" Max said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. I cringed. No, no, Hades. Please don't say it, please don't say it…

But of course, he did say it.

"Holy crap! It's a condom?!" Hades exclaimed, feigning shock to stifle his laughter. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Max tilted his head and gave Hades a confused look.

"…what's a condom?" he asked. This time, it was me who had to keep from laughing. I covered my mouth and let a small giggle escape. Hades sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"…of course, YOU wouldn't know…" he muttered. Max, still confused, shook his head and went back to work.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aurora and Ragnarok were across town, trying all they could to get four measly little tickets. But no one seemed to have any extra ones.

"Aagh! This is so useless!" Ragnarok exclaimed, "No one's gonna give us any tickets, let's just go HOME!"

Aurora smacked him in the back of the head.

"Remember what I told you yesterday? Your voice will not be louder than mine. Got it?" she snapped, wagging a finger at him in a very maternal way. Ragnarok sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, uttering a "Whatever…" under his breath. They both jumped as an eerie yet snobbish-sounding laugh echoed throughout the square.

"Ohoho! Well, is everyone ready??"

Aurora and Ragnarok hid behind a nearby snack cart. The owner of the cart gave them a bewildered look, but he went unnoticed.

The two of them peered around the edge of the cart at the source of the laugh. A short, fat clown with orange hair and a cane was dancing in front of his apparent clown-lackeys, who all looked exactly alike.

"It's the evil clown guy! What was his name again?" Aurora whispered.

"Flotsam," Ragnarok answered.

"Flotsam, evil?" the cart-owner spoke up, "Nonsense! He just wishes to convey his happiness to all of Palm Brinks!"

Aurora gagged.

"That's nice. Well, whatever. We still need to get some tickets," she muttered. They looked out again at the clowns.

"Let's have a stupendous show tonight!! Let's make this a NIGHT...OF WONDER!!" Flotsam announced to his henchmen dramatically. "Alright, all. Let's get to work!"

The clowns lined up in single-file order and marched into the circus tent, with Flotsam following close behind.

"So how do we get the tickets?" Ragnarok asked. Aurora's face lit up suddenly.

"I have an idea. We don't need no stinkin' tickets," she said slyly, slipping into her Northern accent a bit on the last few words. She straightened up and motioned for Ragnarok to follow her.

* * *

"How much longer is he gonna be asleep?"

"Not much longer, Hades. Be patient."

"Why can't we wake him up? This is boring!"

Max had fallen asleep, and we knew from playing the game that he wasn't going to wake up for another few minutes. Then he would realize that he was late for the circus and run off.

"If we screw up the progress of the game, who knows what could happen?" I said, pinching his ear between two fingers. "If we wake him up early, he could go to the circus, give the clown his ticket, and go in without any trouble at all. If he does that, he won't meet Monica! And that's bad!"

Before Hades could react, Max started coming to. He slowly lifted his head and rubbed his eyes of sleep. We waited patiently until he finally looked at the clock and gasped.

"Oh no! It's about to start!" Max exclaimed, jumping up and batting the alarm clock lightly with his fist, "Oh, why the heck didn't it go off!?"

"Run, Max! Run like the wind!" I shouted dramatically, throwing my fist in the air. Max jerked violently out of surprise and glanced over at us.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot you guys were here," he said with a sheepish smile. He grabbed his wrench and held it near where his pockets should have been on his pants. The wrench disappeared as if it had gone into his pocket. Hades blinked rapidly.

"…where'd the wrench go? He don't have any pockets!" he said, pointing at Max and looking at me. Max was already up the steps and heading out the door before we started after him. Max noted quickly that Cedric was no longer there before running out into the street.

On the way to City Hall, we met up with Aurora and Ragnarok. Aurora had that look on her face - the one she always got whenever she had a brilliant idea in mind. Ragnarok was quiet and moody, but this didn't surprise us; he was going through the first stages of puberty, and we were used to his sulkiness by now. We ran in silence for a few minutes.

"Why do _I_ have to go to the circus? I hate clowns!" Hades suddenly complained. I sighed.

"Max is going to the circus, Hades. We gotta follow him," I explained. Hades raised an eyebrow.

"…okay, question two. Why exactly are we stalking this poor kid?"

"…because we feel compelled to as video game characters."

"If that's the case, then why can't we stalk Monica?"

"…shut up."

In the few brief minutes it took us to walk to City Hall (why had it taken us so much less time when we were on the controller?), I examined our game characters.

Hades's outfit wasn't very different from what he usually wore. He had a black denim-looking jacket with matching pants, and a plain white shirt underneath. His shoes were pretty typical, too - just his usual black combat boots. But somehow, it fit in with this world pretty well.

Ragnarok looked very dark and mysterious in his outfit - black gloves and boots, with a long, black, Akatsuki-like robe; strapped to his spiky black head was a pair of black and gold goggles. He seemed pleased with this outfit, despite how Gothic it seemed, so I didn't complain much.

And then there was Aurora's. Hers made me laugh, just because I knew who she was in real life. She had spandex pants with a short, flowing skirt over it. Her black and red jacket was long-sleeved and only came up to the middle of her ribcage. Underneath the jacket was a gold midriff top trimmed with thin, black lace. Her boots were tall and black, and came up to just below her knee. I could tell she was proud of this outfit, for whatever reason. Writers are always so hard to understand.

We arrived at City Hall. Max was handing his ticket to the clown. I tugged on Ragnarok's sleeve and pointed at the small, red-haired boy running at full speed toward Max and the clown. The boy snatched the ticket up and continued running. Max, surprised, ran after him.

"Hey! My ticket! Oh, of all the…!" he exclaimed before turning the corner.

"And now we wait," I murmured, sitting down on the edge of the sidewalk. Sure enough, Max ran around the perimeter of the circus tent and came back into sight about three minutes later. He was stopping and talking to random civilians, asking about the red-haired boy. However, the four of us all knew that the boy was hiding behind the food cart nearby (Aurora informed me that she and Ragnarok had been hiding behind that very same cart just a few minutes before we met up). Max spotted the boy behind the cart and shouted "Hey!" This startled the boy, and he darted out from behind the cart. Max was faster, though, and he tackled him to the ground. I covered Hades's mouth again before he could yell "RAPE."

"Gotcha! Now hand over the ticket!" Max said, letting the boy up and holding out his hand.

"I-I'm sorry…I just wanted to see the circus…just once…" the boy sniffled, bowing his head sadly. Max glanced at the ticket, and then at the boy.

"…you really wanna see the circus, huh?" he said.

"Smart boy," I muttered, dodging Aurora's elbow.

The boy nodded.

"I'm sorry. I promise I won't ever do it again…" he mumbled. Max shrugged.

"All right. Here you go." He handed the boy the ticket. Hades started to clap, but I smacked his shoulder and he stopped.

The boy stared at Max with amazement.

"Really?"

"Yeah, take it. It's yours. I'll go see it next time."

The boy's face lit up.

"Wow, thanks! Really!" He waved and started running off in the opposite direction. Max smiled and sighed. Ragnarok started to move forward, but I managed to grab his ankle from where I was sitting and stopped him.

"Hold up. It's not over yet, remember?" I reminded him, pointing. The boy stopped running about twenty feet away from Max and turned around. Everything grew dark until Max and the boy were the only ones visible.

"You passed," the boy said. We recognized his new voice as Monica's. "You might be able to do it…"

Max blinked and looked around.

"Huh? What's going on?" he asked. The boy continued to speak in Monica's voice.

"You need to hurry. The first door is waiting for you!"

He slowly faded away until he had completely disappeared; the only proof that he was ever there was the abandoned ticket lying on the ground where he'd been standing. The lighting returned to normal, as though nothing had happened. Max, shaking his head with confusion, picked up the ticket and handed it to the clown.

"And NOW we move," I said, standing up, "Aurora, you got the tickets, right?"

Aurora grinned.

"We don't need 'em. I have a plan."

She sauntered up to the clown outside the entrance. He held out his hand.

"You need a ticket to go inside," he said in a scratchy, nasally voice. Aurora jutted out her lower lip.

"Oh, but we don't have a ticket…" she said, feigning a sad tone almost perfectly, "Couldn't you let us in anyway…?"

The clown shook his head.

"Sorry, lady. You need a ticket to go in."

Aurora pouted, crossing her arms just underneath her breasts. The clown suddenly noticed her extreme cleavage and babbled incoherently.

"Are you sure? Can't you let us in just this once…?" Aurora asked in a pleading tone, leaning forward a bit. The clown twitched.

"Y-yeah, s-sure. G-g-go on ahead…" he mumbled, stepping out of the way. Aurora beamed proudly and walked through the entrance, with the rest of us following close behind.

"…that was really amazing, Aurora," I snickered. Aurora just grinned and put her hands on her hips. Ragnarok and Hades both shuddered.

"Do me a favor, Aurora," Hades said, his eye twitching, "Never do that again. …please."

We spotted Max behind the large crowd of people, trying to get a good view of the performances. As we walked up, he sighed.

"Ah, this is no good. I can't see a thing," he muttered. He turned around and saw us.

"Oh, hey! You two were the ones at the workshop, weren't you?" he asked, pointing at me and Hades. I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm Frosty…this is Hades, Ragnarok, and Aurora," I introduced, pointing to each person in turn. Max shook all their hands.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Maximillian," he said with a smile.

"So what's the problem?" I asked, "You can't see anything?" Max sighed and shook his head.

"Nothing at all. There's just too many people…"

Hades pointed toward a nearby ladder.

"Dude, why don't you just go up there? You'd get a better view, anyway…" he suggested. Max blinked.

"Hey, that's not such a bad idea!" he said, walking over to the ladder. He started climbing up, and we soon followed him. Once we reached the top, Max was already staring out at the circus below him.

"Whoa…it's amazing!" he exclaimed. Hades scoffed.

"Big deal. It's just a guy juggling three full-sized clowns. Anyone can do _that._"

We watched for a little while as Linda the elephant, accompanied by Milane the weapons master, shot a ball in the air, did a backflip, kicked the ball even higher, and caught it on her trunk. We were almost seen when the clowns started their trapeze act, but luckily, no one caught us.

Max suddenly glanced behind him, frowning. I remembered that this was the scene where Max accidentally overhears Flotsam and the mayor arguing. Sure enough, Max walked backstage and looked over the rail. We followed quietly, knowing that even the slightest distracted would cause Flotsam to send his clowns out too soon.

"It's the creepy clown guy!" Aurora whispered. Max squinted down at the floor beneath us.

"Is that…the mayor?" he murmured, crouching down to get a better view. Flotsam was gushing over how delicious Palm Brinks' roasted chestnuts were, while the mayor stood there nervously, wringing his hands.

After a minute or so, Flotsam became serious.

"So…have you found it yet?" he asked. The mayor shook his head quickly.

"N-no, not yet. You see, what happened was…" he began, but Flotsam interrupted.

"Now, mayor, are you really trying hard enough?" he asked, slowly slipping into a threatening tone, "You know what happens if you don't find the stone, don't you?"

"W-wait, please! I'm trying my best to find it! I-I just need more time!" the mayor panicked. Flotsam waved his cane in the mayor's face.

"Ah, well. What can you do? But just remember that this chance is your LAST!"

The mayor tugged on the hem of his shirt nervously.

"W-well, are you sure that the stone is even in this town?" he asked. Flotsam inhaled deeply and waved his hands enthusiastically.

"Oooh, yes. Oh, I can smell it. The stone is in this town, definitely!" he breathed. I rolled my eyes.

"This must be like sex to him or something," I whispered. Aurora shot a glare in my direction and put her finger to her lips as an indication that I should shut up.

"But we've turned the mine inside-out, and we couldn't find a trace!" the mayor argued. Flotsam smacked the mayor in the head with his cane, somehow sending him to the ground.

"Oh, sweet mayor, we've been through this. I don't tolerate excuses!" Flotsam kicked the mayor. The mayor let out a yelp, followed by several whimpers of pain. Flotsam continued talking anyway.

"Ah, but the people in this town really are living the sweet life. Not knowing anything of the outside world, they're lost in their carefree lives. With such a pack of ninnies, no wonder they can't find a single stone…"

"Y-you can't tell anyone about the outside!" the mayor gasped, "There'd be a panic, and then no one could look for your stone!"

Flotsam chuckled.

"Oh, I know, Mayor-_poo._ We'll keep this our little secret," he cooed. He let out an eerie, high-pitched laugh.

Ragnarok took a step back and slipped. His foot hit a nearby can, knocking it off of the rail. It clattered loudly to the floor and caught Flotsam's attention.

"Oh, NICE JOB, genius," Hades hissed at Ragnarok.

"Darn it--!" Max muttered. The mayor's eyes widened.

"Max? Run, hurry!" he shouted. Flotsam kicked him again. Max took the opportunity to bolt. We followed quickly, heading for the ladder we'd come up on. Our path was soon blocked by a pair of knife-wielding clown lackeys. Max skidded to a halt.

"You know, I had a dream like this once," Aurora noted, "Only I was in my underwear."

The clowns stalked slowly towards us. I turned around to run the other way, but there were clowns coming from that direction, too.

The clowns in front charged towards Max suddenly. He dove out of the way and managed to trip them. They somersaulted right into the other clowns, knocking them off the platform and sending them falling towards the ground. Max leaped over the huge gap in between the platforms and continued running.

"Very Matrix-esque. I like it," I said as everyone split up to either run from or beat up the clowns.

Okay, so supposedly, this would be the part when we all realize that we've got huge weapons hidden in our tiny little pockets. Unfortunately, there wasn't someone to program into our heads how we were supposed to get them out. So for this battle, we improvised. My brothers and I all knew a bit of karate (actually, Hades was rather obsessed with martial arts), and Aurora was Northern-raised - perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

A few feet away, Max grabbed the trapeze bar and swung off of the platform, yelling at the top of his lungs. A couple of the clowns stupidly jumped after him and fell off.

We continued to watch as Max made it safely to the other side, climbed up one of the poles supporting the tent, slid down a diagonal bar to the center of the tent, and hopped onto the chandelier. Once again, the clowns stupidly jumped after him and started swinging on the light fixture.

"Uh, I forgot. How'd Max get down from there again?" Ragnarok asked, tapping me on the shoulder. As if on cue, the chain holding up the chandelier creaked and groaned loudly.

"Erm, that's how," I muttered to Ragnarok, then yelled, "Max, look out! The chain!"

Max glanced up at the chain just as it snapped. He didn't have enough time to scream before it hit the ground. Even though the clowns were now crushed, he walked away from the crushed chandelier unharmed. The crowd cheered and whistled. I laughed as Max beamed proudly and waved his arms at them.

Aurora motioned for us to follow her as she went down another ladder nearby. By the time we'd gotten down and run over to Max, the next set of clowns began ganging up on him. Max pulled out the wrench he'd pocketed earlier and examined it.

"I guess this'll have to do," he murmured. He charged forward and started smacking the clowns upside the head with his new weapon.

"Max, come on! There's too many of them!" Aurora said, "We gotta get out of here!"

Max nodded. We ran out of the circus, only to have the clowns follow us. As we headed out of the square and into the street, I heard a loud bang, followed by a weird whirring sound. I stopped and turned around. It was Flotsam again, riding on top of his weird, psycho, clown-robot-spider thing. Flotsam laughed that eerie laugh again.

"Ohoho! Well, boy, shall we begin, then?" he said to…well, no one in particular, since Max had already run off. I swore under my breath and ran to catch up with the others.

"Hey, you guys!" I shouted, "Flotsam's got Halloween! He's coming this way!"

"WHAT THE HELL!? I HATE CLOWNS!" Hades exclaimed. We reached the fork in the road. We stood there for a few seconds, dumbly trying to figure out which way to go, while the clowns started to catch up. Max glanced at the light post next to him and grinned.

"Oh, no. Not more climbing," Aurora sobbed. Max nodded, shrugging. We all scurried up the pole, one after the other, until we were all running on the roofs of the houses. But, of course, those clowns were relentless. They followed us soon afterward.

"Oh, don't these clowns ever give up!?" Max exclaimed, turning around and motioning for us to stay behind him. He did a flip over the nearest clown and kicked it in the back, sending it flying off the roof. I whistled.

"…once again, very Matrix-esque. My compliments," I said.

Flotsam and Halloween suddenly appeared in front of us. Hades swore loudly and almost fell over.

"Ohoho!" Flotsam laughed. Max sighed agitatedly.

"Oh, what now?" he muttered. Flotsam pointed at the red stone around Max's neck.

"Hand over the pendant, boy, and I'll let you leave here alive!" he said. Max blinked and glanced down at the stone.

"What, this old thing?" he said.

"Oh, come on, Max! You can sell it on Ebay and make a fortune!" Hades cried. Aurora and I elbowed him at the same time.

"Don't do it!" came another voice. Max looked to his right. The red-haired boy from earlier stood on the roof next to him.

"It's you again?" Max said, tilting his head. Flotsam cleared his throat impatiently.

"Well? What's it gonna be?"

The boy continued, once again speaking in Monica's voice.

"Don't give it to him, Max. It's too important."

Flotsam growled.

"Hand it over, now!" he shouted. Max took a defensive stance.

"No, I won't let you take it!" he shouted back. I could see the vein in Flotsam's forehead twitch with anger.

"Well, if it's gonna be that way, then DIE!" he screamed. Halloween dove at Max. Max took a quick step back, tripping and taking us all with him. Luckily, since this was a cutscene, none of us had any real damage from the fall. Max stood up and brushed himself off. He glanced up.

"Oh no! Here it comes!" he exclaimed. The rest of us scrambled to our feet and started running as fast as we could.

"Why…is it…that Halloween…is less frightening…on the video game…than in real life!?" I asked, not bothering to stop to catch my breath.

"This isn't a video game anymore, in case you didn't notice!" Hades shouted.

We rounded a corner and spotted a small, dark-haired boy with a straw hat beckoning to Max from an alleyway.

"Max! Over here!" the boy shouted. We recognized the strong accent and knew who the boy was.

"Donny! Thanks, man!" Hades said as we all slipped into the alleyway. As we started climbing single-file down the nearby manhole, Aurora made a disgusted face.

"Oh, yuck! I'm not going down there! It's the sewer!" she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. At that moment, Halloween's footsteps grew louder as he turned the corner and started heading our way.

"…on second thought, lemme in," Aurora quickly added, climbing in after me.

As the door to the manhole closed and we all sat there, trying to catch our breath, I could almost hear _Time is Changing _echoing in the pipes. Smiling, I started to hum along…

"_Only the strong ones can stand the test of time_

_Caught in between these two worlds, finding our way_

_The sun will rise to pierce the sky_

_When this wonderful world starts to shine…"_

* * *

I'll play the game a little more to get some inspiration, and then I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Tell me what you think so far, people! I need motivation. -puppy eyes-

Edit: Sorry about the many line breaks. This site is stupid and wouldn't let me double-space.


	3. Level 2: The Underground Water Channel

New chapter time! Sorry it took so long; I had trouble getting inspired to write certain parts...but better late than never, right? Right? -nervous chuckle-

Anyway, you know the drill. Please R&R!

**

* * *

Level 2: The Underground Water Channel**

"--stop humming, Frosty. You sound like a crazy person."

I sighed and straightened up. We'd been standing here for about five minutes, trying to catch our breath after our escape from Halloween. The whole experience in general deserved a resounding "W-T-F", but I didn't say it out loud. Aurora didn't like it when we swore, even in computer-speak.

After another minute or so, Donny spoke up.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" he asked. Max nodded, still panting.

"Y-yeah. You saved us, Donny," he said. Hades nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks, man."

Donny waved his hand casually.

"Hey, don't mention it," he said. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the street above us.

"What's goin' on up there? Who are those guys?" he asked. Hades shuddered.

"Clowns, man. Clowns. Evil, vicious, disgustingly ugly, kill-you-in-your-sleep-then-laugh-about-it CLOWNS," he exclaimed, flailing his arms, his eyes wide. I patted him on the head.

"Don't blow a gasket, Hades," I murmured, "They're just clowns."

"BUT I HATE CLOWNS!"

"Clowns?" Donny frowned. Max nodded.

"Flotsam and his circus troupe," he explained, "I heard Flotsam threatening the mayor, and…well, I guess I wasn't supposed to. I had to get out of there."

I looked around.

"…hey! We're in the underground water channel, right?" I asked. Donny nodded, beaming proudly.

"Yup! It supplies water for the whole town," he said. Max raised his eyebrows.

"Whoa…really?"

As Donny began to explain about the water channel to Max, the rest of us walked further in for a better view.

The channel entrance was even cooler-looking in person. We could feel the spray of the lake water, pouring in from pipes leading to the outside. I could smell the faint rusty scent of the metal we were standing on…and I'm sure Hades felt the heat of Donny's campfire as his sleeve nearly caught on fire.

"Y'know…for a sewer, it's not half bad," I said, tilting my head. Aurora shuddered.

"Oh, God. That's so gross."

Max and Donny walked up behind us; Donny was finished explaining, and all was quiet.

"…so…what're you gonna do?" Donny finally asked. Max stared at the water splashing down from the pipes.

"Underground water channel…" he murmured to himself. He turned to Donny. "This goes outside of the town, right?"

Donny nodded, and then all was silent again as Max put on a thoughtful look.

"Hey, what're you cookin' up?" Donny frowned. As if she'd suddenly remembered, Aurora let out a squeak and backed up.

"Oh, no. No, no. We are NOT going in there," she protested, "I-I mean, it's the SEWER…it's all green and slimy and gross…"

"Don't forget the huge human-sized rats!" Hades added cheerfully. Aurora sobbed. Max shook his head.

"Look…that Flotsam guy threatened the mayor. There's something going on in the outside world, and…I want to figure out what it is," he said firmly, a determined look in his eye. I turned to Aurora.

"Why don't you stay here with Donny, and the rest of us'll go with Max in the sewers," I suggested. Aurora frowned.

"But you guys can't go, at the end of the sewers is--" she began to protest, but then covered her mouth quickly. Max raised his eyebrows at her.

"Is what? What's at the end of the sewers?" he pressed excitedly, "Do you know something?"

Aurora laughed nervously.

"Aaah…umm…"

Hades interrupted.

"Uh, listen, I'm gonna stay behind, too. The sewers are gross," he said, scrunching up his nose in disgust, "Maybe I'll go and hang out at the workshop later or something."

"Wimps," I muttered under my breath, and then said aloud, "Okay, so it's just me and Rocky going with Max. Aurora and Hades are staying here."

Donny puffed out his chest and quirked an eyebrow at Aurora.

"Hey, baby," he purred. He spat in his hand and slicked his hair back. Aurora groaned and shook her head.

Max headed down the ladder.

"Donny, you stay with these two and keep watch," he said as Ragnarok and I climbed down after him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure…" Donny said, distracted by Aurora's beauty. He blinked suddenly, shook his head and turned in Max's direction.

"Hey, wait a second! Why do I gotta keep watch!?" he demanded.

I cackled under my breath. Silly Donny.

Max laughed and headed toward the sewers, oddly-colored walkie-talkie in hand. Ragnarok and I followed close behind.

"Do you guys have something to fight with?" Max asked, once we had gone through the iron doors. Ragnarok and I exchanged glances uneasily. After a moment or two, I looked down at my skirt. My hand hovered hesitantly over it, as if I was getting ready to take something out of my nonexistent pocket.

One second, my hand was empty. Then, LESS than a second later, my fingers were curved around a thin, smooth metal bar with white rubber at each end. I recognized the droopy, wilted, navy-blue ribbon around one of the ends and gasped.

"My baton!!" I squealed, hugging to my chest and spinning around happily. "Oooh, this is the best weapon EVER. Yay!"

I didn't notice Ragnarok and Max staring at me with identical bewildered expressions. After my excited giggle-fit had quieted down, Ragnarok tried the same thing I had - his hand hovered over his painted-on pocket. He took a step back in surprise when both his hands were suddenly holding identical objects. I raised my eyebrows.

"Twin blades…sweet," I murmured. Ragnarok examined the curved, shining red daggers in his hand and nodded.

I turned to Max.

"I think we're good for now," I said. Max grinned and nodded. He started to walk again, but was stopped by a loud, obnoxious ringing sound. Ragnarok groaned and held his ears.

"What's that sound!?" he exclaimed. Max pulled the walkie-talkie from his belt and pressed the "on" button. The ringing stopped.

"…that thing is going to be smashed to pieces by the time we get out of here," I muttered, my eye twitching.

"Max! You guys okay in there so far?" Donny's voice asked from the walkie-talkie.

"Uh huh," Max replied, "We just entered the sewer. We haven't had any trouble yet."

"Well, just remember that there're nasty little critters out there that'll getcha if yer not careful," Donny warned. As if on cue, one of those "nasty little critters" - a Sewer Rat that was only inches away from being Max's height - rounded the corner and charged at us. Max, who was talking to Donny, didn't see it coming.

"Ma-ax!" Ragnarok said, tugging on Max's sleeve. Max glanced up at the last second and dove out of the way. The rat snarled at us, its teeth dripping with a strange, white substance that I really hoped was just spit.

It charged at us again. When I saw Max and Ragnarok fleeing again, I groaned and ran forward, slamming my baton against its head. The impact sent the rat flying against the wall of the sewer and into the small rectangular pool of water surrounding the walkway.

I giggled madly. What a rush!

When it charged at me again, this time soaking wet and smelling like something had just died, I started thwacking it again, keeping a rhythm like Max or Monica normally would when they fought (or rather, when we made them fight). Finally, the rat flopped over on the ground and faded away, leaving only a tiny burlap bag, an even smaller red and yellow container, and a bunch of glowing blue beads that scattered across the floor as soon as the rat fell - ABS. As soon as I walked up to gather up my small reward, the ABS rolled toward me and absorbed into my shoes. I felt another adrenaline rush like I'd felt when I first attacked the Sewer Rat, but it only lasted for a couple seconds. I picked up the container and the bag, which, to my delight, made a jingling sound whenever it moved. I tossed the bag to Max and pried open the container. Inside were two small, brownish-colored crystals. They had tiny, diamond-shaped depressions all over them that glowed a bit. I beamed and held one of them up.

"We got some Hunter Crystals, guys!" I said, tossing the one in my hand to Ragnarok. He examined it with amazement in his face.

"Whooaa…these things look so much cooler in person…" he said, turning it over in his hand. Max emptied the small bag into his hand. A bunch of shiny gold coins fell out, all making that familiar jingling noise as they hit each other. Max raised his eyebrows and counted them.

"…this is 50 Gilda!" he said, looking back up at us. I nodded.

"Sooo, basically, if we beat these baddies, we'll be…very much loaded," I concluded. Max nodded.

The obnoxious ringing started up again. Ragnarok and I both groaned. Max answered the walkie-talkie.

"You guys got cut off! What happened?" Donny's voice asked, sounding more curious than concerned. Ragnarok grabbed the walkie-talkie.

"Those 'nasty little critters' you told us about are five feet tall with rabies!" he exclaimed. Donny chuckled nervously on the other end.

"Well, I ain't never been in there myself, so I couldn't tell ya how big they were…but as long as you guys are still alive, I'm sure you can handle it." Donny paused for a moment.

"Did I tell you guys about the Gate Key?" he asked. Max blinked.

"The Gate Key?" he asked.

"…'pparently not," Donny muttered, then went on with his explanation, "Well, in order to get to the next level of the sewer, you gotta get the Gate Key from one of the monsters. I think it's called the Key Handle here or something like that…anyway, you can't leave that level until you get the Gate Key."

Ragnarok groaned.

"Oh, great. We have to go through that all over again?" he complained. I rolled my eyes.

"Be quiet, you lazy boy."

"Also, try strengthening your weapons with those weird-lookin' crystals. You'll _need _all the strength you can get," Donny warned.

The walkie-talkie shut off as Donny hung up. I pocketed the items - I'd figured out how to do it now - and stretched.

"SO. Let's go beat up some uglies!" I said enthusiastically. Max nodded, grinning, and Ragnarok sobbed.

We trekked deeper and deeper into the sewer, running into more monsters - Clowns, Frogs, Flotsam Balloons, the works. And unfortunately, since this wasn't a cutscene, we did get hit…a LOT. And it hurt…a LOT. But luckily for us, Max had a few loaves of bread with him that went more slowly than when we were playing on the controllers, and that seemed to help. Not to mention, we found that mysterious pool of water that healed you completely whenever you ran through it. And the best part was that _the monsters couldn't follow you in there._ Oh, the fun we had, taunting the rats and frogs as they continued to stupidly walk into the invisible barrier around the pool.

We had gotten the map and the Magic Crystal by now, and were scanning the area for any more monsters. There was only one left - a Frog - and we were getting closer to it; since we hadn't gotten the Gate Key yet, this monster had to be the one carrying it.

We charged at it from around the corner and defeated it within seconds. I scanned the Gilda and items we got from the Frog, but there was no Key Handle. I frowned.

"Ummm, okay. Where is it?" I asked. Max blinked.

"Maybe we got it earlier and we didn't realize it..? I'll check our items," he said, taking the item bag off of his belt and rummaging through the contents. While he worked on that, I scanned the area we were in and did a double-take. There was a treasure chest not twenty feet away from where we were standing. I beamed and skipped merrily over to it.

"Hey, a treasure chest!" I exclaimed. I bent down and undid the clasp holding the chest shut.

Something in Ragnarok's mind seemed to click just then. He suddenly turned and yelled, "Wait, don't do it! It's a--!"

But it was too late. I let out a scream as the treasure chest leapt at me, suddenly sprouting arms and teeth. The clasp on the front opened to reveal an eyeball, which jerked around madly until it focused on the intruders.

Silly me. I'd opened a Mimic.

"What IS that thing!?" Max exclaimed, taking a couple steps back out of surprise. Ragnarok just shook his head and tugged on Max's sleeve.

"Throw a bomb at it or something!!" he panicked. Max fumbled with his item bag until he pulled out a small, cartoon-like bomb. It lit automatically when he pulled it out. Startled, he tossed it to Ragnarok.

"WAAGH!" Ragnarok shrieked, tossing it back to Max. This game of "Hot Potato" continued until I caught the bomb and flung it at the Mimic, who was about to attack us again. The bomb exploded, taking the Mimic with it, and the ABS scattered across the floor.

We stood there for a moment, panting and gasping.

"…oh…my…God…" I finally gasped, clutching my heart, "I…_**hate**__…_those friggin'…things…"

"Wait'll we get to the King Mimics…" Ragnarok muttered. I sobbed.

Max picked up the Key Handle from the pile of ABS and Gilda.

"We've got the Gate Key! We can go now!" he said.

We nearly skipped with our enthusiasm down the long path to the exit - Ragnarok complained nearly the entire time, of course - until the metal door surrounded by brick finally came into view. Max walked up and examined the door.

"Hmm…there's a hole where some part could go…" he noted thoughtfully. Ragnarok snickered. I just rolled my eyes and smacked his shoulder.

"Try sticking the Key Handle in there and turning it," I suggested. Max did as he was told. The door slid open, creaking and groaning along the way.

"Hey, it worked!" Max said, "Come on, let's keep going." I sighed.

"One down, five hundred more to go…" I murmured.

The next few levels were very similar to this - for some reason, I just could _not_ see it coming when a Mimic suddenly jumped out at me. Luckily, though, the Gate Key kept appearing earlier and earlier into the level, so we could leave quickly.

After a while, we entered a huge, circular room full of pumps and machines.

"Whoaa…" Max murmured, gazing around in awe. I stared upward at the ceiling and gulped.

"W-wow…this place is so much bigger in person…" I said. We slowly walked down the ramp towards the middle of the room. I frowned, staring around the room again.

"I dunno why, but…I have a feeling something's supposed to happen here…" I muttered. Ragnarok nodded, glancing up at the ceiling. He did a double-take and stopped short.

"Look out!" he shouted. Max looked up and gasped. He dove out of the way just before Linda the elephant slammed into the ground, in the place where we had been standing just a moment ago. Linda trumpeted angrily, her eyes darting around madly. Flotsam floated gracefully beside her and chuckled.

"Flotsam!" Max exclaimed, pointing. Flotsam smirked, letting out another eerie laugh.

"Ohoho! And how are we today, Max?" he asked pleasantly.

"Oh, we're just peachy, bub," I answered angrily, throwing my hands up in the air, "We're trekking through the sewers, nearly getting pounded into the ground by gigantic rabies-infested rats, and now we gotta stop because Ronald McDonald and his elephant sidekick wanna put in their two cents!"

Flotsam eyed me with distaste for a split second, but then the pleasant smile returned and he chuckled again.

"All the way through the sewers, you say? Well, well, Max. I'm quite proud of you for coming all this way, you know," he said. He paused, and added, "By the way…I took the liberty of doing a bit of research on you."

"Stalker," Ragnarok muttered. Flotsam continued as if he hadn't heard.

"For someone like you - living in a big house with no wants or needs - don't you think it would be a waste if you threw your life away fighting us?" He faked a sob and struck a dramatic pose. "And…how sad indeed would your dear, sweet mother be…"

That apparently struck a nerve.

"What!? What do you know about my mother!?" Max demanded, suddenly looking angrier than we'd seen him yet.

"Hee hee hee!" Flotsam cackled. I groaned at how incredibly dorky his laugh sounded. "What if _did_ know something? If you want to know more, just give me that red stone. I have plenty to tell you…"

Max was quiet for a second. I could see that this was a really tough decision for him to make, so I didn't tease him. Finally, he looked up at Flotsam with determination in his face and shook his head.

"No. No way. I'll find my mother myself. I don't need help from anyone like you!" he said firmly. The pleasant smile was gone, and was replaced by an annoyed grimace.

"Argh! You little brat! You'll regret this, I guarantee!" Flotsam promised, his eye twitching madly. He spun around in mid air and pointed at us dramatically.

"Take care of them, my darling Linda!" he commanded, his voice softening as he spoke the name of his beloved yet enraged elephant.

Linda trumpeted again and charged toward us. We split up and ran around her, just barely avoiding her enormous feet as she tried to stomp on us.

"What do we do?" Max asked, stepping out of the way as Linda attacked again.

"Umm…just…run around in circles screaming like a crazy person!" I exclaimed, waving my hands frantically. "It might confuse her or something!"

We split up again, running in different directions, and began flailing our arms, shouting gibberish at the top of our lungs. Linda spun around for a few moments, confused, but then her confusion turned to pure rage. She started charging full-speed towards Max, who'd tripped over his own feet a second earlier - with her tusks ready to pierce whatever part of him she could reach. Max looked panicked, unable to dodge this time. Ragnarok and I helplessly cried out his name, and it looked like the end…

Linda stopped, her tusks just inches away from Max's chest. Flotsam reappeared and started cackling again.

"It looks like it's no use, Max. You'll never win like this," he said, shaking his head with that same pleasant smile again. "So, have you changed your mind?"

Max frowned, frustrated.

"…I…I don't…"

Linda suddenly flew backwards several feet, landing on the ground with a shuddering _thud. _Max stared up at his savior - Cedric had arrived with the Ridepod.

"Cedric!" Max exclaimed, "You finished it!"

Cedric chuckled.

"Yup. I named him _Steve_," he said, emphasizing the Ridepod's name, "I'm still workin' out the bugs, but he's got plenty o' punch!"

The Ridepod trudged forward again. Linda was back up on her feet and even angrier than before. She charged again, this time at the Ridepod. Cedric pressed some buttons on the Ridepod's controls, and it started thwacking Linda on the head with its Cannonball Arm.

"Ha ha! Take this! And that!" Cedric was yelling after each attack. Linda stumbled again, but then regained her balance and went for the Ridepod again.

"Oh, back for more, eh?" Cedric asked, smirking, "You're an ornery son-of-a-gun, arentcha?" He prepared to make the Ridepod attack again, but there was a loud clunk and it froze.

Ragnarok and I, who had both been amazed in getting to see the Ridepod attack in person, stood there with identical stunned expressions on our faces.

"…it…stopped…" Ragnarok said slowly, his voice unusually high-pitched. I nodded just as slowly.

"What happened?" Max demanded. Cedric started pounding at the buttons, laughing nervously.

"Um, actually, I sorta didn't finish making the energy pack yet. It can't handle any more fighting," he said sheepishly. I gaped.

"So what, you made that big dramatic entrance and now we're all gonna die because you forgot the freaking batteries!?" I shouted. Cedric shook his head.

"Oh, we're not dyin' yet. Max, hop on!" he said. Max frowned.

"Get on? But it can hardly move!" he exclaimed.

"It's got enough juice to get us back, don't you worry. C'mon, hurry up."

Max climbed onto the back of the Ridepod with Cedric. I raised my hand politely.

"Um, I see one teensy little flaw in this plan," I said. Cedric raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

"Well, if you haven't already wondered about this, that is a pretty tiny robot, and _we_ are still not on it," I noted, motioning to Ragnarok and myself. Cedric blinked, raising both his eyebrows, then frowned.

"Hmm, I see yer point…" he muttered. Linda prepared to charge at us again. In a panic, Max tugged on Cedric's sleeve and pointed at the angry elephant. Cedric switched some gears and gave us an apologetic look.

"Hope you guys can run fast!" he said as he turned the Ridepod around and hurried toward the secret exit. I rolled my eyes and, grabbing Ragnarok's wrist, bolted after them. I heard Flotsam's girly laugh echoing throughout the pump room as the metal door shut behind us.

As we ran, I noticed that something felt strange…I didn't feel the rhythmic "tup-tup-tup-tup" that I normally felt in my feet when I was running. Rather, it was almost like I was gliding, slipping gracefully across the cement as though it were wet ice. I quickly glanced down at my shoes once to see what was going on, then looked back up to avoid hitting something. In that quick glance, I saw faded, glowing gold streaks underneath my shoes on the ground. Like smeared footprints that disappeared moments after hitting the ground…

We passed through another metal door and walked into Cedric's workshop. Cedric and Max climbed off of the Ridepod while Ragnarok and I caught our breath.

"Can't…you…attach…a buggy…or something…to that…thing…?" Ragnarok gasped. Cedric rubbed the back of his neck.

"Eh, sorry, guys. Didn't expect to see Max travelling with people," he apologized. I groaned and sat down in a nearby chair. Cedric glanced at the small clock on the repair table.

"It's pretty late…you kids should get some rest," he said. I yawned and stretched.

"Don't have to tell me twice…" I muttered. After deciding on sleeping accommodations - Max was sleeping on the bed, Ragnarok was gonna sleep in the arm chair, and I was sleeping beside the constructor - we shut down for the night.

The next morning, we awoke to find that Hades and Aurora had arrived at the workshop. They claimed that Donny was bored of waiting around and that he'd gone off to hunt for items for a while. Cedric noticed Max's thoughtful expression and asked him what the problem was.

"…well, those clowns and Flotsam…they're all after my pendant. I don't know why…" Max murmured, examining his "pendant." Cedric nodded slightly.

"Well, if what you heard at the circus is true, then Mayor Need knows somethin' about this whole mess…I'll talk to 'im today," he said. He frowned slightly, and added, "And as for that pesky elephant…we're gonna have to fix up the Ridepod if you're goin' back in there again."

Max nodded and examined the Ridepod. Hades tilted his head.

"You just need the Energy Pack, right?" he asked. Max blinked, then looked at Cedric.

"Could we make it?" he asked. Cedric raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You sure? It's a big job…"

Max nodded enthusiastically.

Thus began the "How to Invent" discussion. Cedric gave Max the camera, and he set off with Ragnarok and Hades to go find the pictures needed to make the Energy Pack.

* * *

"Okay, so what's first on the list?" Max asked. Hades glanced at the small piece of paper that Cedric had written all the photo ideas on.

"Pipe!" he said. Max glanced around. Ragnarok pointed at the roof of the workshop, and Max snapped the picture.

"Okay. Now what?" he asked. Hades struck a dramatic pose.

"Milk can!" he exclaimed.

Ragnarok turned his attention to the other side of the street and pointed at the milk cans in front of Polly's Bakery. Max ran closer to it and took a picture, then ran back to where the other two were standing.

"Okay, and the last one?" he asked.

"Water: 35 liters! Carbon: 20 kilograms! Ammonia: 4 liters--!" Hades began. Ragnarok frowned.

"Hey, GIMME THAT!" he exclaimed, snatching the paper out of Hades's hands. He raised his eyebrow at the last item on the list.

"…uh…"

Max glanced over his shoulder at the paper.

"What is it?" he asked.

"...belt," Ragnarok finally sighed, rolling his eyes, "The next item is a belt." Hades snickered. Max nodded, oblivious.

"Okay. Where can we find a belt?"

Hades pointed down the street dramatically.

"Come on, it's time to go take a picture of Blinkhorn's crotch!" he said, grabbing Max's wrist and dragging him down the street. Max raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"…his _what?_"

* * *

After a couple minutes, they came back, Max looking thoroughly embarrassed, Ragnarok rolling his eyes, and Hades snickering evilly. They huddled together for a second, then went up to Cedric.

"The cans hold all the energy, the pipe connects the cans, and the belt holds it all together, right?" Max said, gesturing to each picture as he mentioned it. Cedric nodded.

"Good job, kid. Now, take somma this Gilda and go buy the materials on this list." Cedric dug in his pocket and pulled out another list. He handed it to Max and shooed him away.

"Now go on!"

They left again, Hades muttering something about "errand boy, freaking annoying." Since they were only going to Morton's, which was right across the street, we assumed they would be back pretty soon.

We'd been waiting for an hour before they finally got back. Along with the materials they originally needed, they also brought back several bombs, a couple books, and a bag of repair powder. When I asked him about it, Hades just shrugged and said something about compulsive shopping. Max went into a corner and started attaching and welding everything together.

"Why couldn't he just get the items in the picture and use those…?" Ragnarok asked quietly. Aurora rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder.

Another hour passed. Hades and I were playing Go-Fish with an old deck of cards, Aurora was reading one of the many electronic manuals from downstairs, and Ragnarok was admiring one of his twin blades. Finally, Max stood up and walked over to us, the Energy Pack in tow. It looked like a backpack made from milk cans. Ragnarok was right; Max should've just gotten the items in the picture.

"It's finished!" Max announced. Cedric examined it for a moment, then grinned toothily.

"Hot diggity! I knew ye had it in ya, boy!" he exclaimed. He latched it to the back of the Ridepod. The lights in the front slowly blinked on as the Ridepod came to life. Max looked absolutely elated.

"All right! It worked!" he cheered. Ragnarok huffed and stood up.

"NOW can we go?" he asked irritably. Cedric scratched his head, glanced at the Ridepod, and nodded.

"Yep. I reckon this baby'll hold up long enough to get you out of the sewers," he said, patting the robot's arm. It shook violently for a brief second, and we all jerked forward in a panic, ready to catch any loose parts that fell off.

Cedric walked over to the far side of the workshop and tapped the wall twice. The wall collapsed into a hole in the floor, revealing a secret tunnel.

"This tunnel'll take you back to the sewers," Cedric explained, "You'll be on yer own from now on, so be careful." He cracked his knuckles and headed for the door. "Meanwhile, Immuna go have a few words with Mayor Need…"

Aurora's eyes lit up as she realized that she now had an excuse not to go into the sewers.

"Uh, hey, wait up! I'll come too!" she said quickly, running off after Cedric. I glanced at Hades.

"You coming with us this time?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Nah. I'll stay here for a while, then probably go catch up with Aurora and Cedric or something…" he said. He looked around. "There's probably enough broken shit in here for me to entertain myself with until then, anyway."

I shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

We headed out into the tunnel, Max on the Ridepod and Ragnarok and I on foot. Cedric was right - it lead right to the Pump room.

It was eerily silent when we arrived. We walked to the center of the room, looking around in all directions to make sure no one would pop out at us.

But, sure enough, Linda came crashing down through the ceiling the moment we decided to look up. We jumped out of the way and took defensive stances. Flotsam floated down next to Linda, laughing that girlish laugh of his.

"Oh ho ho ho! I bet you were _thrilled_ when you thought you were alone here!" he snickered. "Too bad, so sad…"

Then, without further hesitation, he gestured dramatically to Linda.

"TEAR THEM TO PIECES, my little Linda!" he exclaimed. Linda immediately charged at us, like she did before. And we dodged, also like before. I knew we were supposed to defeat her this time around, but I felt like there was something else we were supposed to be doing…

And as Linda trumpeted loudly, standing back on her hind-legs for a couple seconds, I suddenly remembered what it was.

"We have to get a picture!" I exclaimed. Max, who was on the Ridepod still, turned to face me with a startled look.

"A what!?" he asked with disbelief. I pointed at Linda as she did her hind-leg stunt again.

"We have to get a picture of Linda on her hind legs! This is the only chance we'll get to take it!" I explained. Max stared at me, dumbstruck. I huffed and, hurrying over to the Ridepod, snatched the camera from inside the small carry-on basket.

"Just trust me, okay?" I said, making sure the camera worked before aiming it at Linda. "Keep trying to hit her and I'll take the picture."

Max nodded uneasily and went back into the battle. I stayed on the sidelines, waiting for Linda to strike that epic pose again. At one point, Linda was facing the camera, and I couldn't help but think, "Wow, if she does it in this direction, it'll be a great shot!" However, Linda's face started to get bigger and bigger (and angrier, it seemed). I frowned and looked up from the camera to see what the problem was. I felt all the blood drain from my face as I realized in a split second that Linda was charging at me, and was now merely a few feet away from turning me into a Frosty-kabob with her tusks. I scrambled out of the way at the last minute in a panic, clutching the camera to my chest. Linda skidded to a halt, teetering dangerously over the edge of the large platform we were all standing on, then corrected her balance and charged at Max and the Ridepod. The Ridepod's cannonball arm swung at Linda's side. Linda, outraged, pushed back onto her hind legs and trumpeted loudly. I fumbled with the camera until it was pointed at the elephant and managed to get the shot.

"I got it!" I exclaimed, filled with relief that I wouldn't have to try for that picture anymore. I turned to Max and shouted, "Max, finish her off and let's go already!"

Max gave one firm nod and started pressing all sorts of buttons on the Ridepod's controls. The Ridepod lashed out at Linda, smacking her with its oddly-shaped arms about 50 times a minute. Finally, exhausted, Linda slumped to the ground in defeat.

For a split second, I almost felt sorry for the poor beast. Then, when Flotsam gave a howl of rage, disbelief and shock, I suddenly remembered that: "Oh yeah, she's the bad guy. It's okay."

Max grinned, looking relieved and triumphant. Flotsam floated down from wherever he was hiding and glared furiously at us.

"You little brats!" he cried, flailing his arms stupidly, "I won't forget this!" He disappeared in a short white flash, and, after a second or two, so did Linda.

There was a long pause. Max dismounted the Ridepod, and it disappeared.

I felt my heart pounding in my head. After a second or two, I inhaled deeply. When I exhaled, most of what came out was laughter. Ragnarok gave me a funny look.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. But I couldn't stop laughing. What a relief! It was all over!

"Ohh…myy…Gah-ha-hahaaaad…" I managed to get out, "We did it! We don't have to do it ever again!" My hysterical giggles continued until Ragnarok frowned and said, "…but what about Halloween?"

My laughter came to a complete halt, and I felt the blood drain from my face again.

Oh. Halloween. I remember that battle. When I'd first bought the game, I would spend days trying to defeat that hideous clown-spider. That was…well, that was hell. Not to mention, the photo was even trickier to get than Linda…

My giggles turned to faux sobs.

"I don't wannaaaaa…" I whined, "Hades was right, clowns _suck…_"

Max laughed, completely oblivious to what we were really talking about, and the three of us continued on through the sewers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Cedric and Aurora were headed for City Hall to interrogate Mayor Need. Once they arrived, they marched up the steps to his office, ignoring the surprised stares of the interns who worked there.

Cedric kicked the office door open to reveal a very startled-looking Need. Aurora followed behind, arms crossed and looking like she meant business.

Need pushed his glasses up his nose and blinked rapidly at them.

"C-Cedric!?" he stammered, "W-what are you doing here!?"

Cedric walked up to the desk and slammed his fist on the polished wood.

"All right, Need! What exactly are you hidin' from me? Tell me everything you know!" he demanded. Aurora walked up from behind and slammed her fist on the desk, too, just as Cedric had done.

"Yeah! Spill it, you worthless excuse for a mayor!" she spat. Cedric glanced at her uneasily.

"Er, I can handle it from here, dollface. Thanks, though."

Aurora scowled.

"DOLLFACE!?"

They were distracted by Need's heavy sigh of defeat.

"So, you've realized it too, have you…?" he asked, and Aurora couldn't help but be reminded of that sad, droopy dog with the nasally voice on the Boomerang channel. "D-damn! But, I suppose it's better not to know sometimes…"

He trailed off, playing with his pen absently.

Cedric frowned.

"Why're you hidin' things from me? I thought we were friends, Need!" he said. Aurora snickered.

"You need to get some new friends, pal," she muttered under her breath.

"…okay, okay! I can't go on hiding it anymore!" Need surrendered, setting the pen down firmly and looking Cedric straight in the eye. "I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you what's going on here in this town, in this world…"

* * *

The battles were getting easier and easier to get through. Max had already leveled his wrench up once, and he was close to leveling up his gun for the first time. Ragnarok had leveled up his twin-blades once already, too. I was having a bit of trouble with my synthesis…I kept dropping the crystals. Luckily, I dropped them when they were already spectrumized, so it didn't hurt them. But it still aggravated me.

We were only a couple levels from the end now, and by now, all of this dungeon-trekking was becoming second nature to us. We didn't even have to think about it.

At one point, after we'd gotten the Gate Key and were headed for the exit, I noticed Max staring off into nothing with a thoughtful frown on his face.

"…you okay?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He blinked and glanced at me, then at his own feet.

"Uh, yeah. Just…thinking about things," he said sheepishly. I nodded slightly.

"…worried about your mom?" I guessed. He glanced at me again, this time looking surprised.

"How did you know--" he began. I shrugged.

"Flotsam mentioned her a while back, and you've been kinda quiet ever since…" I hesitated, then added, "…did you want to talk about it?"

Max was quiet for a couple seconds. Then he grinned and said, "Nah. I'll be all right. Don't worry."

We arrived at the exit. Ragnarok turned the key handle in the lock and pulled the door open. We walked into another really big, round room like the one we found Linda in. I stammered incoherently for a couple seconds before turning right back around.

"Uhhhh, you know, I think I forgot somethin' back there, I'll just go back--" I laughed nervously. Ragnarok rolled his eyes and tugged on my wrist.

"Come on, you baby," he frowned. We entered the room and walked down the big steps toward yet another boss battle.

* * *

Need had finished his long explanation, and the three of them had been sitting in silence for at least a minute now. Need sighed.

"Well, that's the story," he said, rubbing his temples. Cedric frowned.

"That's what this is about? You expect me to believe all that?" he demanded, "What are you gonna do about it, huh?"

Need fidgeted nervously.

"Well…there's really nothing I can do…" he muttered. Cedric huffed and rolled his eyes.

"You ignoramus! What's wrong with you!? You're supposed to be mayor of this town!" he exclaimed. Need sighed.

"You're right. I'm absolutely useless as mayor…" he agreed miserably. Aurora snickered and Cedric shot her a look. He then put on a more sympathetic expression and, turning to Need, said, "…come on, Need, what happened? You didn't used to be like this."

Need didn't answer. He picked up the pen from earlier and started clicking the bottom nervously. Aurora decided to intervene.

"…well, what about the railroad?" she suggested. Cedric's eyes lit up.

"That's it! Need, just start up the Blackstone Railroad again!" he said, as though it had been his idea all along. "Look, the reason you shut it down was so that no one could leave and see the outside world, right? Well, that's not necessary anymore! Now we actually need to leave this town and see what's beyond our walls. If we do, then we just might find a way around this!"

Need pondered this for what seemed like hours. Eventually, Aurora groaned and said, "Oh my GOD, would you JUST make a decision already!?"

Need looked at her, then nodded at Cedric.

* * *

Like in the Pump Room, we headed down into the middle of the Channel Reservoir - Ragnarok and I expecting a boss battle, and poor Max smiling obliviously.

"The exit should be around here somewhere…" he murmured to himself, looking around.

Strange, babbling voices and rhythmic, metallic thuds suddenly caught our attention. We looked up to see what the commotion was. I let out a terrified squeak as I saw the gigantic spider-like legs decked out in clown shoes, hidden in the shadows but still barely visible.

"…there he is!" we heard Flotsam shout, "Here we go! It's…SHOWTIME!"

"Max, get out of the way!" I exclaimed, grabbing the back of his suspenders and jerking him backward a moment before Halloween came crashing down onto the floor, followed shortly by Flotsam himself. Flotsam put on a fake smile again, even though we…ALL knew it was fake. I still wasn't sure why he did it.

"Now, be a good boy and hand over that red stone…" he cooed in a patronizing tone, "Otherwise, you're gonna make Mr. Fwotsam vewy, vewy angry! So angry, in fact…he might even KILL YOU!"

"So THAT'S what 'Mother Dearest' is like!" I noted, relieved that I wouldn't have to actually see the movie now.

Max scowled at him.

"Don't you get it? I told you once, I'm not handing this stone over! Just give it up already!" he exclaimed irritably. Flotsam's eye twitched violently, and he glared at the blonde.

"Oooh! I wouldn't cop that attitude with me if I were you!" he growled. "You'll live to regret it!"

And then, without even a dramatic introduction, Halloween started charging clumsily toward us.

Okay, so he's a huge clown-robot-spider. On the TV screen, he doesn't _look_ as scary as Linda did. But…we weren't looking at him on a TV screen, so it didn't help much.

Max ran up to one of Halloween's legs and began whacking at the multi-colored steel. It make useless metallic _clangs_ that echoed only briefly in the large reservoir.

Halloween shuddered for a brief second, then jerked forward. His bright red nose popped off and landed innocently beside us, a new one growing in its place. Max tilted his head at it, confused.

"What was that for?" he asked. The "nose" started to emit a strange, pulsating light that increased its tempo as the seconds ticked by. It suddenly occurred to me what was about to happen right as the light stopped and the giant nose exploded, revealing its true purpose.

Ragnarok was the only one who was still standing, surprisingly enough. Max and I scrambled to our feet just as Halloween launched another bomb at us. I felt the light bulb go off in my mind again, and I wrapped my arms around the nose, trying to use my skinny, weak arms to lift it into the air.

"What are you DOING?" Ragnarok exclaimed, running over and raising his hand as though he were about to smack the bomb out of my arms. I cringed away from him in panic.

"No, no, don't! We have to throw the bombs at Halloween!" I tried to explain hurriedly, keeping in mind that the bomb could go off any second. I remembered that Ragnarok was much stronger than I was, and added, "Here, catch!"

He caught the gigantic bomb at the last second, but the momentum made him fall over. He scrambled to his feet and, hoisting the bomb over his head, flung it at Halloween. It exploded just underneath Halloween's head, and he slumped to the ground, temporarily paralyzed.

"Now! Go whack his head!" I ordered, pointing at Halloween. "Hurry, before he wakes up!"

Max and Ragnarok ran forward, weapons in hand, and began "whacking his head" as many times as they could before Halloween jerked back to life again, jumping backwards several feet.

I ran up to Max and pulled the camera off of his belt. He gave me a bewildered look as I aimed the camera at Halloween, trying to steady my shaking, sweaty hands.

"Why are you taking another picture!?" he asked, his voice a couple octaves higher than usual in panic.

I paused briefly before answering. Of course I couldn't tell him about the scoops! That was later in the game, and I doubted even Donny himself knew about it!

"I…er…memory-keeping?" I suggested with a forced laugh. Ragnarok gave me a dull look.

"You really think we could forget something like this!?" he asked.

"…well, YOU could."

"I…shut up!"

Halloween crouched suddenly, and our attention was brought back to him. His nose disappeared briefly and was replaced by three missile shooters. He jerked back as the missiles launched one by one into the air and came straight for us. After the second missile, I remembered that this was what I was supposed to be taking a picture of. As he launched the third missile, I somehow managed to get the shot - though it was a bit lopsided because I was diving out of the way simultaneously. I handed the camera back to Max, and we continued the bomb-throwing-head-whacking process.

Normally, with Max just by himself, it would've taken much longer to defeat Halloween. But since there were three of us, the robotic spider was finished off in a third of the time.

Halloween slumped to the floor, paralyzed again, but this time for good. Flotsam let out a girlish shriek and hurried down from his hiding place to inspect the damage.

"AAH! My poor little Halloween!" he exclaimed, flailing his hand uselessly over one of Halloween's legs. "It's okay, you can still move! Stand up. Hurry now!"

One of the many contraptions attached to Halloween exploded, sending Flotsam flying backwards, covered in burn marks and soot. The three of us exchanged glances before stepping forward, but not before a group of Flotsam's clown cronies came running floppily over to their leader. They lifted him up and carried him off, chanting a very comical "Heeeave ho! Heeeave ho!"

Once the clowns and Halloween were all gone, Max let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Man…those clowns don't know when to quit…" he muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Max glanced up at the only other door in the reservoir besides the one we'd come in through. It was large and rusty, just like the other doors we'd seen, but I knew it must've looked like the most amazing thing in the world to Max. He was about to see the outside world for the very first time, and all he had to do was walk through that door.

"Could that be…the way out? " he asked himself in a quiet voice. I patted his shoulder and grinned.

"Come on. Let's go see the outside world."

* * *

Need, Cedric and Aurora had made their way down to the abandoned train station, after Need made a call to Palm Brinks's head mechanics, Borneo and Eric. The two of them had kept the trains in top shape, even though they weren't running, so when the mayor asked them to start up the railroad again, it wasn't a problem.

"Everything set?" Cedric asked, after Eric and Borneo had been working for a while.

"All set, Cedric," Borneo nodded, heaving a large shovel over his shoulder.

"It's a go!" Eric chirped enthusiastically, then added to Borneo, "Great to be back, isn't it, sir?

"Yup! Twenty percent more coal today."

"Roger that!"

Aurora groaned.

"Ugh, can we just get a move-on already? The corniness is killing me," she muttered.

A familiar voice from the train caught her attention, and she turned to see a white-haired head sticking out of one of the windows.

"Yeah, let's get goin'!" Hades shouted, waving his fist. Aurora gaped at him.

"Where the hell have YOU been!?" she demanded. Hades shrugged.

"Around."

Cedric nodded and threw his fist in the air.

"Alllrighty! Blackstone One, here we go!" he exclaimed. They all boarded the train except Need, who stood on the balcony behind them. He sighed heavily.

"I guess, in the end, I was too chicken to go along…" he muttered to himself, "Good luck, all of you."

The train left the station, all those onboard preparing to see the outside world for the first time.

* * *

"Whoaa…! This is amazing!" Max finally said after we'd left the Channel Reservoir.

The outside was…even more breathtaking than I remembered. The railroad stretched across a wide river on a bridge with strange, intricate designs carved into it. The water from the reservoir emptied into the river through large pipes sticking out of the humongous wall behind us - even the pipes looked graceful and elegant. Max stood on the balcony, staring out at the world with wide eyes.

"…well, don't just stand there!" I said after a while, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "There's a big world out there! Let's go explore it!"

Max laughed and ran down the steps enthusiastically, babbling on about how incredible the outside world was. We followed hastily after him.

Max was walking alongside the bridge, still babbling, when we heard the train whistle. We turned toward the tunnel and saw the Blackstone One slowing down next to us. After it had come to a complete stop, Cedric hopped out and walked over to Max with a big grin on his face.

"Cedric! What are you doing here?" Max exclaimed, looking absolutely thrilled. Cedric laughed and jabbed his thumb in the direction of the train.

"Whatcha think? You surprised? The Blackstone Railroad's back and ready for action! Oh, we're gonna see the world on this baby, Max. We got quite an adventure ahead of us." He turned halfway towards the train and motioned for us to follow him. "Hop on, so we can hit the road."

Ragnarok and Max started to follow, but I stood there gaping at the train like an idiot.

"…you mean we had to drag ourselves through the sewer and face off against steroid-enhanced rats, homicidal elephants and freakish clown-robots, and all this time WE COULD HAVE JUST TAKEN THE TRAIN!?" I shouted, stomping my foot. Ragnarok rolled his eyes and, grabbing my wrist, dragged me onto the train.

The train started moving again, and we were off.

Inside, we found Aurora and Hades bickering like always. Aurora told us about how Hades had just disappeared for hours and then reappeared when it was time to go, and of course, Hades denied it. We were joking and laughing like we usually did again, until Cedric cleared his throat loudly as a call for attention. We all simultaneously looked at him. He was crossing his arms with a serious expression on his face.

"All right, listen up, everyone. Here's what we found out from Need." He glanced at Aurora, who nodded slightly. He then looked at everyone else and continued.

"His story was pretty far-fetched…it was 15 years ago. Somethin' bad happened to the world…"

We listened intently to Cedric's story. Fifteen years ago, the world was almost completely destroyed; almost, because the only thing left was the town of Palm Brinks. The one who decided to blow everything up was Emperor Griffin. No one knew why he did this, but they did know that the reason he didn't destroy Palm Brinks was because there was supposedly a red stone hidden in the town. Flotsam was Griffon's henchman, and he threatened the Mayor to search for the stone.

When Cedric had finished, Max was quiet. He sat down on one of the red plush seats, staring at the stone around his neck thoughtfully.

Suddenly, we heard an explosion outside, and the entire train shook. Hades flailed for a minute, trying to keep his balance, then stood up straight and looked around.

"What the hell!?"

"It came from outside!" Borneo exclaimed, pointing toward the side of the train that we were all facing. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, you think!?"

Cedric ran over to the ladder beside the door and looked at Max.

"Max! This ladder leads to the roof of the train. Go check it out!" he commanded. Max nodded and scurried up the ladder. Hades and Ragnarok's eyes both lit up at the same time. They scrambled to their feet and ran for the ladder, tripping each other in the process and arguing over who got to go on the roof. Cedric watched their fight with a bewildered look for a minute or two.

"…hey, hey, hey, hey!" he finally said. "Look, if it'll stop yer whinin', you can both go! Sheesh!"

The two boys nearly glued themselves to the ladder and zoomed up the rungs in no time at all. Aurora and I exchanged looks and rolled our eyes.

"We'd better go make sure they don't blow EACH OTHER up…" I sighed. Aurora nodded in agreement. We stood up and headed up the ladder after them.

On top of the train, everyone was sitting and staring at something behind us. I followed their gaze to the right side of the train, where Flotsam was chasing after us with the Hand Buggy. Attached to the hand buggy was a gigantic machine gun, shooting at the caboose of the train.

"Oh, not him again!" Max groaned, "It's like he's stuck to my boot!"

Cedric frowned.

"Max! If we don't do something fast, we're in serious trouble. Time to fight back, son!" he said, suddenly looking determined and inspired. Max tilted his head in confusion.

"That sounds like a good idea, but how are we gonna stop him!?" he asked. Hades waved his arms frantically.

"JUST BLOW UP THE DAMN CAR!" he exclaimed. Max blinked rapidly at him. Cedric nodded.

"That's right! Here, use this!" He handed Max one of the cartoon bombs from earlier. I let out a small yelp and backed up a few feet, almost falling off the train.

Max examined it, looked at the Hand Buggy, then at Cedric.

"So I throw this?" he asked. Aurora huffed impatiently.

"No, you eat it, Sherlock," she said sarcastically, "OF COURSE YOU THROW IT."

Max looked at her uneasily, then at the bomb, then at the Hand Buggy again. He hesitantly threw it in the car's direction. It exploded the minute it hit the ground, knocking the car back several yards and putting a serious dent in the side door. Hades cackled madly and snatched the next bomb out of Cedric's hands.

"My turn!" he cheered. He wound up his arm like a baseball player and flung the bomb at the car. It bounced off the hood and exploded in mid air. Flotsam sputtered and coughed and fanned the soot out of his face. The rest of us cheered.

The boys all started grabbing bombs and throwing them, like a broken pitching machine. I thought it would be difficult for them once the buggy started switching sides, but they didn't miss a beat.

After a while, one of the bombs lit the upholstery of the buggy on fire. Flotsam let out a shriek and started flailing his arms uselessly.

"AGGH! IT'S ON FIRE! Do something, you worthless lump!" he screeched at one of the clown cronies onboard.

The car exploded and Flotsam was suddenly airborne. We cheered again, thinking we'd won. Flotsam landed on the train car behind us, his clothes torn and covered in soot. The ends of his mustache were lit on fire, like a cartoon.

He stood up and glared at us, his entire body shaking with fury.

"Whyy…I…oughta…" he said through clenched teeth. Max pointed at Flotsam, looking confident.

"It's over, Flotsam! You lose!" he said. Flotsam grabbed two fistfuls of his own shirt and ripped it off, along with the rest of his clothes. Strapped to his chest were several sticks of dynamite. Max jerked backwards out of surprise.

"Or…not," Hades muttered, laughing sheepishly. Flotsam took a couple deliberate steps toward us, and we took two automatic steps backward. He started chuckling maniacally, a crazed look in his eyes.

"Hee hee hee-hee hee…lob another onna those bombs at me, why dontcha?! C'mon now…DO IT!" he shouted, his chuckles turning into hysterical laughter. Cedric looked uneasy.

"Th-this doesn't look good…he's gonna blow himself up along with this whole train!" he exclaimed.

"And what's worse, he'll be NAKED!" Hades shrieked. We all groaned and smacked him in the back of the head.

Flotsam took a couple more steps toward us, pulling two of the sticks of dynamite off of him and lighting them on fire. He lifted one in the air as though he were about to throw it at us, until we heard a familiar voice that stopped him.

"Hey, Mister! Don't you ever give up? You're startin' to look pretty pathetic!"

Flotsam turned around. The "homeless" red-haired boy from before was standing behind him, a grin on his face.

Flotsam raised an eyebrow and let out another maniacal giggle.

"What's this? Another little brat?" he asked. "…oh, I see! So you wanna die, too. Sure, why not? Let's go, punk! IT'S TIME TO BURN!"

The boy just smirked. A strange, sparkling yellow aura surrounded him briefly before fading away and revealing a familiar girl with long, red hair and a big sword.

"W-what's this!? I-it's…YOU! How did you--!?" Flotsam sputtered with disbelief. The girl swiped at the dynamite with her sword, slicing it in half and rendering it useless. She aimed the band around her upper-left arm at him. The band shot out blasts of red energy at him, sending him into the air again and off the train. Once he was out of sight, the girl turned toward us and smiled.

We'd just met Monica.

* * *

Well, that's chapter two! I hope you all enjoyed it! (I hope so, because it'll probably take me 237584837390458 years to finish the next one...x.x)

Also, if anyone's interested, I've been working on the character designs for this story. I have Aurora's and Frosty's already posted on my dA page, and I'm working on Hades's next.

Enjoy!


	4. Level 3: Sindain, Firbits

I-I...am SO sorry, you guys. DDDDD8 I didn't mean to take a whole year to finish this chapter...I'd just written a lot of notes for the upcoming dungeons, and wasn't sure how to go about writing it all...not to mention, schoolwork, art-stuff and my usual procrastinations got in the way. But here it is, finally! I've got a lot of people encouraging me to keep writing this one, so hopefully it won't take fourteen billion years to get the next one out. XD Enjoy! As usual, reviews are very much appreciated~

* * *

**Level 3 - Sindain, Firbits, and a Butterfly Wood**

"Awww! Stopped by a rock. Gonna take some work to move that one."

We stood outside the halted train, examining the _gigantic_ boulders that had oh-so-conveniently fallen in our path. Cedric sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Monica just smiled pleasantly and shrugged.

"That's fine with me. I've got things to do here," she said, looking towards the forest. Her expression turned slightly serious.

"This place is the spirit forest, Sindain. But it's…different than in my time."

As Max asked what she meant and she explained it to him, I skipped close to the edge of the forest and inhaled deeply, beaming.

Trees! Wonderful, glorious, tall, green TREES~! I loved trees so much. The place where I spent my childhood was filled with them. But when we moved, we ended up in a flat place that only had the occasional twig planted in the ground by the city, and not the big, luscious oak and pine trees I'd been used to.

But THIS…I was going to like this place. Definitely.

"—and if we could restore the Great Elder's origin point, he could tell us who Griffin really is!"

"The…origin point?"

Aurora walked up beside me.

"Hey, princess. Whatcha doin'?" she asked, a hand on her hip. I looked at her and grinned.

"Au-ror-aaaaaa~ Look at the trees!" I said, excitedly pointing at the forest like a little kid. She rolled her eyes.

"You're such a weird little girl."

I laughed and looked back towards Monica and Max. Monica was explaining the situation to Max with a serious look on her face.

"Griffon has sent my henchmen to this time, altering the origin points of _my _time. And now…now he's rewriting history as _he _sees fit," she said, frowning. She motioned to the forest again. "In my time, this forest was where the Elder of the Spirits, Jurak, lived. He was very wise and powerful, and his great power purified the forest and gave vitality to all the living things in it. But Griffon erased Jurak from existence! "

"Damn, _that's _gotta suck," Hades muttered, and Ragnarok elbowed him.

"And not _only_ Jurak," Monica continued, ignoring him, "All those with the power to challenge Griffon are being erased from existence, too. I don't think he'll stop until he's wiped out the entire world! So…someone has to stop him. Even now, my comrades are fighting Griffon in the future."

She grasped Max's hands suddenly, a determined and still-serious look on her face.

"And Max, I need you to help us."

Max blinked at her, bewildered.

"Huh? _Me?_"

Monica nodded a few times, with even more determination in her eyes.

"Yes! You have to!"

"…what a convincing argument," Aurora said, rolling her eyes. Max glanced at her, then looked at Monica again and nodded.

"…okay. I'll do it."

Monica beamed and let go of his hands, bouncing up and down happily. I punched Hades in the arm before he could say anything about the way her boobs jiggled all over the place.

"Alright! I knew you'd say yes!" she exclaimed. "Guess we're a team now, right?"

She held out her hand and Max stared at it for a second.

"You're supposed to shake her hand, smart boy," I snickered. He blinked at me.

"Oh…right."

He took her hand and shook it. Monica grinned and stepped back, turning to look at the forest again with her hands on her hips.

"Let's start with Sindain," she said, in a very leader-like fashion. Max was about to ask about Sindain when Cedric waved at him from the train.

"Max! You go on without me, y'hear? I'll just stay here and work on gettin' Blackstone runnin' again. If y'need my help, just holler," he said. Max nodded. Borneo also waved at him.

"Bring back anythin' good you find in the forest, and let us know if you need a hand. Take care of yourself, Max!"

Eric tilted his head and winked at Monica.

"You too, li'l girly-pie~"

Monica, totally oblivious, just smiled and waved back.

"You bet!" She glanced at us and nodded. "Okay, let's go."

We headed through the only clear path into the forest. After walking for a little while, under the branches of the tall trees that sort of made a canopy over our heads, we reached an enormous clearing. It was almost completely empty, save for a few boulders, logs, and random pine trees scattered around the area.

Oh, and a cute little house, randomly plopped there in the grass, off to the side.

Max blinked at the house, bewildered.

"What's that?" he asked, probably just out of immediate instinct. Hades snorted and put his hands on his hips, squinting at the house sarcastically.

"Y'KNOW, I dunno. It looks like another tree, but I could be wrong," he joked.

"It's a house, all by itself…" Monica noted, tilting her head a bit, "That's kind of weird. Let's check it out."

"Yeah, that's great thinking. 'Oh, something out of the ordinary in a strange, enchanted forest. Let's go closer!'" I said, rolling my eyes. Monica grinned and shrugged, with one hand on her hip.

"Well, what's the harm? This area seems pretty peaceful, so there can't be anything TOO bad," she replied. We nodded and walked closer to the house.

Max suddenly stopped and pointed up at the roof of the house.

"Look! Someone's there!" he exclaimed. We all looked where he was pointing. Sure enough, there was a tiny…elf-like man lying back on the roof, looking perfectly content. At least until he heard voices; then he jolted into a sitting position with a surprised "Whoa--!" before jumping down gracefully onto the ground. Max stumbled back, even more surprised than the "elf" was. The tiny man squinted analytically at him, then at the rest of us.

"What iiis it? What do you waaant?" he asked, with a very thick Irish accent. Hades, Aurora and I all exchanged glances, trying very hard to conceal our snickers and giggles as we realized that we were all thinking the exact same thing.

Monica gasped with glee and skipped forward to the elf…man…person… …thing.

"Hey, you're from the Firbit tribe of Sindain, aren't you??" she asked. Before the poor Firbit could respond, Monica reached forward and began tugging on his impossibly large red-orange mustache. "Ohhh, it's so cute! All curly and everything…~"

"H-hey! HEY!" the Firbit protested, flailing. Monica smiled cheerfully, tilting her head as she examined the stretchiness of the Firbit's mustache.

"—oh, that's right! There's something I wanna ask you, okay?" she asked.

"Y-you…!" the Firbit sputtered, face turning bright red from fury, "THIS IS HOW YOU ASK FOR A FAVOR!?"

Monica blinked.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

She gave the Firbit's mustache one final tug before letting go. He whimpered pitifully and rubbed his (probably very sore) face. Hades and I both stifled a snicker.

"So, have you heard of a being here named Jurak?" Monica questioned, deciding not to waste any time.

Apparently that was the straw that broke the Firbit's back (or whatever the Sindain equivalent to that saying would be). The Firbit let out a frustrated yell and stomped off, going up the steps to the house and slamming the door behind him.

"…huh. Wonder why he got so mad," Monica pouted.

"Yeah, couldn't possibly imagine the reason," I snorted.

We walked up to the front door and Max knocked.

"Nooooobody's home!!" the Firbit from earlier exclaimed, his voice muffled by the door.

We stood there for a moment, pondering a way to get in. Then, Monica snapped her fingers.

"I've got it! I hear the Firbits are just CRAZY about grape juice," she said with a wink. Aurora looked at me with a quirked eyebrow.

"I thought it was cereal," she muttered, and a small "fffahahahaha" escaped me before I could stop it. I looked at Monica after my giggles had subsided and nodded.

"S-sounds like a good idea. Try it."

Monica grinned and cleared her throat.

"Oh, and we brought ALL THIS GRAPE JUICE, too!" she said loudly, "Now what are we gonna do? If they don't let us in, I guess we'll just have to throw it away~!"

We heard frantic shuffling from inside, before the door cracked open and the Firbit's hand poked out, beckoning them inside. Monica beamed and turned to us, whispering, "Hey, it worked!" We grinned back at her and headed inside the small house.

The inside looked just like it had in the game, but there were smaller details I noticed now that I hadn't before – like the small bowl of fruit sitting in the corner, or the colors and texture of the pillows resting in the hammock on the lower level. I couldn't resist grinning at how familiar it all was.

I snapped out of it when Monica suddenly exclaimed, "Well, look at that! Three of them!" I glanced down at the lower level, where the green-clothed Firbit we'd met first had joined two others – one with black hair and orange clothes, and one with graying hair and reddish-pink clothes. I could never remember the name of the black-haired one, but I _definitely _knew who the old one was. I kept my mouth shut for Max and Monica's sake, however, as this was their first time meeting him. (however, Ragnarok nudged me and we both grinned at each other)

The green-clothed Firbit walked up to Monica and impatiently held out his hand. Monica blinked, confused for a brief second, then made a silent "oh" with her mouth and grinned mischievously.

"Ohhh, you want the grape juice, huh~?" she asked, and when the Firbit gave her an irritated look and nodded, she crossed her arms and looked coyly off to the side. "Well, it'll cost ya~"

The Firbit growled at her, shaking his fist threateningly. I buried my face in Hades's jacket to try and stifle my laughter, while he and Aurora didn't even bother trying and cracked up simultaneously. Max also let out a small chuckle, with a sigh.

Monica pretended to think for a second, then looked at the Firbit.

"Well, our price…I heard you Firbits have a mysterious magical power to make things like houses and plants."

The Firbit stopped growling and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

"What're you getting' at?" he asked. Monica just grinned.

"I want you to use that power to help us."

"_Help _you?" The Firbit gave her a look of disbelief. Monica nodded.

"You probably know better than we do that something strange is going on. The whole world has become like one big deserted island! Everything's disappeared, and at this rate, there won't be anything left in the future." She shook her head a little, then frowned slightly at the Firbit. "I want you to use your building power to rebuild a town in this time."

The Firbit had started shaking his head before Monica even finished her sentence.

"No way. It's too much work. Besides, we got no time for that, so just run along, will ya?"

Max frowned.

"What do you mean, you don't have time for it?" he questioned. The Firbit snorted and crossed his arms defiantly, turning away.

"Hmph. Even if I told you, it wouldn't change a thing."

The old, graying Firbit stood up from his chair, raising a hand towards the green-clothed Firbit.

"Hold on, Rococo," he said. Rococo, the green-clothed Firbit, pouted and walked back to his seat. The graying one turned back towards us.

"…okay, you lot. I think I understand. Come on over here and have a seat."

We obliged, walking down the steps to the lower level and pulling up a few chairs to sit in – it was a bit of a tight fit for Ragnarok, who was the tallest of the six of us, but he managed.

"The name's Conda," the old Firbit said once we were seated, and I felt myself grinning like an idiot again. Conda gestured toward Rococo and the black-haired Firbit. "This here's Rococo, and this is Tobo."—oh, so the black-haired one is Tobo. Now I remember.—"Pleased to meet you. So, who might you all be? Don't see too many humans around here, especially in a big pack like this."

We introduced ourselves and got right down to business.

"You know there's something wrong with the world, right?" Monica said, frowning. "A great darkness is trying to distort the flow of time."

Conda nodded and also frowned.

"Hmm. I was beginning to wonder about what was happening to our forest…" he muttered. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course, I'd like to help you out, but…to be honest, we're in a bit of a fix ourselves. Even if we wanted to, we can't help you till we solve our own problems."

Monica tilted her head with a sympathetic look.

"What's wrong? Tell us about it," she coaxed. Aurora rolled her eyes and leaned towards me, speaking in a low voice.

"This has turned from 'recruiting-help-to-stop-the-end-of-the-world' to 'Firbit-trauma-therapy'," she muttered. I smacked her shoulder lightly, trying hard to bite back a giggle with a hopefully scolding-sounding "s-stop that!"

Conda pursed his mustached lips a bit.

"It's a long story, but…it must've been about a year ago or so…"

He told us about Holly, the beautiful human woman who got lost in the forest and wandered into Sindain. They loved her dearly as she stayed with them, but one day she just up and disappeared. They sent the other four members of the Firbit tribe to go find her, but then they disappeared as well.

"So, basically, at this point in time, I'm afraid we can't help you out," Conda sighed again, "You want us to use our special powers to help you, but the thing is, all seven of us have to be here in order for it to work. Besides, we're…not really in a helpin' mood, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"That's…quite a story," Monica said, looking bewildered and sympathetic at the same time.

All was quiet for a few seconds. Then Conda looked back up at us.

"I have a proposition to make," he said.

"—WAIT, WAIT, lemme guess. You want us to help you find your Lucky Charms, right??" Hades interrupted, with a big white grin. Aurora and I cracked up, while the other five in-game characters gave us a confused look.

"…er, if he means the other four Firbits," Monica said, turning to look at Conda, "Then yeah, we can do it."

"You mean you'll help us?" Conda asked, face lighting up. He paused before adding, "…could you also keep an eye out for Holly? Each day without her brings us nothin' but gloom…"

The three Firbits in the room all looked down miserably at the same time, and it was all I could do to keep from jumping up and hugging them until their mustaches popped off. Hades must've sensed it, too, because he grabbed the back of my collar to keep me in my seat.

Monica smiled and sighed.

"I understand. Four or five, what's the difference?"—("One person," Ragnarok muttered with a sarcastic eye roll that resulted in an elbow in the ribs from Aurora)—"So, what does this 'Holly' look like, anyway? Any special features?"

The Firbits blinked and all exchanged glances.

"Special…features…" Conda muttered, scratching his head and thinking hard, "…lemme see…musta been somethin'…"

He snapped his fingers suddenly with an 'aha!' and looked at us again.

"Her hair! It was long!" He paused, then scratched his head again. "…I think. …no, wait. Maybe it was short…I think…"

Hades groaned.

"Oh, THAT'S specific," he said. Max chuckled lightly.

Conda snapped his fingers again and looked to his leprechaun-like comrades for confirmation.

"Wait, I remember! The potato pies she used to make were the greatest!" he exclaimed. The other two Firbits made pleased sounds and nodded in agreement.

"That's right, they were mighty tasty…"

"Yeah…incredible…"

Monica sighed heavily and facepalmed.

"Oh, forget it…" she muttered. Max, meanwhile, had suddenly straightened up at the mention of the potato-flavored treat.

"Potato…pie?" he repeated slowly. As Monica tried getting more answers out of the Firbit, I knew Max was having another flashback of his mother, so I didn't interrupt him.

Finally, when the interrogating and the flashbacking was over, Conda led us outside of Sindain, through the "station", and over to the second entrance, which was still blocked by gigantic red and purple flowers that you would only be able to find in a video game.

Conda waved at the pathway.

"It's just beyond here. Lately there've been some nasty monsters living in these parts, so watch yourself now!"

He lifted his cane and waved it at the flowers, striking a dramatic pose.

"DAAYAH!" he exclaimed, and I nearly died laughing. The giant flowers disappeared, and the road leading into Rainbow Butterfly Wood was clear.

Conda turned toward us again.

"Legend has it that in these woods lives a mysterious rainbow-colored butterfly. And anyone who lays eyes on that butterfly never leaves the woods again," he said. He paused, tilting his head and thinking. "You know, I wonder if Holly and the search party we sent out went and accidentally found themselves that Rainbow Butterfly. Just be careful not to run into the Rainbow Butterfly."

Monica gave him a look of disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'be careful'? What could we possibly do to prevent it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Conda pondered it for a second.

"…if that happens…"

We all leaned forward in anticipation.

"…if that happens?" Aurora coaxed.

Finally, Conda shrugged.

"Just pretend you didn't see it."

We all groaned and shook our heads.

"Well…whatever. We're off!" Monica said. I looked towards Aurora, Hades and Ragnarok.

"Okay, so I'm going in again. Who else is coming?" I asked, looking at each of them for an answer.

"Trees mean humidity and bugs," Aurora said, making a face. "I'm opting out this time."

"Me too," Hades shrugged. When I gestured toward him, indicating I wanted an explanation, he just blinked and shook his head, waving his hand. "—oh, no, I don't have a reason. I just don't want to."

I rolled my eyes.

"Psh. Fine. Looks like it's you and me again, Rocky," I said to my youngest brother, who nodded like a good little boy and prepared his twin blades.

Monica nodded to us, and looked back at the other two.

"Okay. You two stay behind and help the other Firbits out, okay?" she said, "I'm sure they could use it."

Hades shrugged again and Aurora nodded. Conda snapped his fingers and started digging through his bag.

"—ah, before I forget. Take this with ya, boy," he said, pulling out a green bottle with some kind of purple substance in it and handing it to Max. Max blinked and examined it.

"What's this?" he asked. Conda grinned toothily.

"It's the Firbit's favorite thing in the world: grape juice! If you have this with you, those guys might just smell ya and come runnin'."

Max chuckled and nodded.

"Okay, I gotcha. Thanks, Conda."

The four of us headed down the dark path, waving at Conda, Hades and Aurora until they were out of sight.

We crossed over a dead tree to get to the other side of a small stream, and I looked around as the territory suddenly became all kinds of familiar.

"Well, so far so good!" Monica chirped, putting her hands on her hips and gazing around the forest. "This'll be a piece of cake!"

"Yeah, that's what YOU think…" Ragnarok muttered.

I suddenly and randomly thought back to when Conda had cleared the path for us and promptly burst into giggles. When the others turned and gave me a weird look, I struck a dramatic pose, held out my baton and yelled "DAAYAAAAAAAAH!" All three of them cracked up, and even Max joined my imitations for a bit.

"Th-that—what was UP with that??" I asked, still laughing uncontrollably.

"H-he really overdid it!" Monica laughed, gasping for air, "All he had to do was move the flowers…!"

"Yeah, and did anyone else notice how much he kept saying 'Rainbow Butterfly'?" Ragnarok piped up. Max nodded and pointed at Ragnarok.

"I thought I was the only one!" he said. I grabbed a few leaves from a nearby bush and stuck them to my face, making circles with my fingers and putting them up to my eyes like glasses to imitate Conda again.

"'Oh, right, and then there's the Rainbow Butterfly. The Rainbow Butterfly is bad, very very bad. If you see the Rainbow Butterfly then you die. I wonder if the Rainbow Butterfly got the others? Pretend like you never saw the Rainbow Butterfly or heard me talking about the Rainbow Butterfly'," I mimicked, and then, for comedic effect, added a dramatic, "RAAAAAAAINBOOOOOWWWW BUTTERFLYYYYY" at the end, which made us all crack up again.

Finally, after several loooong minutes of laughing, we calmed down, but not without a few chuckles still.

"Ohhh…that butterfly better be dangerous, for Conda's sake," Monica sighed, shaking her head and smiling. I grinned and nodded.

We continued on, making sure to keep our eyes out for any monsters that might show up. We also managed to find a few treasure chests along the way (thankfully none of them were Mimics), and we found the Map inside one.

I stared at the map as we walked and sighed.

"…you know…I remember complaining about how useless the map was in this game…but…now…" I gave Ragnarok a pitiful look and he snickered, nodding in understanding. Monica looked over my shoulder at the map.

"Well, it looks like the exit is all the way over here…" she said, prodding one spot on the map with her index finger, "…so as long as we find the Gate Key soon, we can probably get out of this area quickly!"

Max nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so let's--"

There was a high-pitched, almost…cute-sounding snarl to our right, and we all turned our heads to look. A pair of green monsters, with leaves for hands, roots for legs and giant sunflowers on top of their heads were waddling towards us with the most evil expressions they could muster.

Himarras!

I looked at Monica and grinned.

"You 'n me, I think we can take these two. What do you think?"

Monica grinned back and pulled out her sword in response. I pulled out my baton and we both closed in on the flower-themed cuties—I mean monsters, making sure to step back or to the side every time their gigantic flowers started spinning. We finally managed to defeat them both (I'm always forgetting how difficult new monsters are at the very beginning), and collected the ABS, Gilda and items they left behind.

"Let's see…" I muttered to myself as I took inventory of our new loot, "We got 25 Gilda, 20 ABS, a Forest Dew and a Pri—EW A PRICKLY." I quickly dropped the fat, squirming worm covered in spines which was oh-so-well-named. Max picked it up and stowed it in his bag, along with the other loot (excluding the ABS, which we distributed among ourselves).

Monica glanced over at me with an impressed smile.

"That was some pretty good fighting just now!" she complimented. Before I could thank her, she added, "Especially for someone so young, I never would've guessed you had that kind of fighting power inside you!"

I frowned.

"…'for someone so young'?" I asked slowly. Ragnarok started snickering, and I looked at him.

"…c'mon, seriously, what's up?" I asked, looking back at Monica. She seemed confused.

…it was then that I realized I was looking UP at her.

I hastily ran to a nearby pond and looked down at my reflection, hoping and praying that it wasn't what I thought it was.

But I don't have that kind of luck. A cute, wide-eyed, maybe 10 or 11-year-old girl with pigtails tied up in pink ribbons looked back at me. I shrieked and fell backward, scrambling away from the pond. By now, Ragnarok was laughing so hard he was keeled over, clutching his stomach. I stood up and pointed at him, glaring and feeling my temples throbbing with fury.

"**YOU**! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I LOOKED LIKE THIS!?" I yelled, inwardly cringing as I noticed for the first time how high-pitched my voice sounded. His face started turning purple and he shook his head, still laughing uncontrollably and waving his hand at me. Max and Monica, who still looked confused, exchanged looks and shrugged. Monica looked back at me and said, "Uh…Frosty, is everything okay?"

I took a really deep breath, pulling in as much air as my [now much smaller] lungs could hold, then exhaled slowly, relaxing but glaring at Ragnarok still.

"…yeah. I'm okay," I replied finally. Monica looked a bit weirded-out, but nodded.

We found several more monsters in that area, and while we ended up struggling with the increased difficulty, no one died and we didn't plow completely through our supply of bread (thankfully this level had the giant pink squishy…mushroom-like…thing…that healed us).

We finally found the Gate Key – a tiny, flimsy-looking saw with sparkles around it – and headed for the exit. There was a gigantic tree in our way, and I remembered that we had to use the saw to cut down the tree, but…that was looking more and more impossible.

"There's no way this flimsy little thing is gonna be able to cut down the tree!" Monica groaned, holding it up and looking at the tree. The saw suddenly leapt from her hand, making all four of us jolt with surprise. It sparkled more and spun around the tree rapidly, finally disappearing when the tree was almost completely chopped down. The tree fell (thankfully AWAY from us) across the stream behind it, and, after recovering from our surprise, we climbed up and walked across it.

This continued for about three or four levels, until the atmosphere started getting darker and the air became more humid.

We crossed one more tree-bridge and walked into an area that looked much different from the others. The sky was blocked by a canopy of moss-filled, dark-colored trees, and there were ponds scattered everywhere. The ground made an odd squelching sound as we walked, and there was the odd smell of mud and dead fish lingering heavily in the air.

I scrunched up my nose and pulled the poofy cloth of my skirt together to keep it from getting muddy.

"Swamps…fun times. Yay."

Max looked at the map, then around at the rest of the swamp.

"This must be Fish Monster Swamp…I can't really imagine what else it would be," he said, and I nodded in agreement. Monica, who was also busy looking around, suddenly pointed towards one of the nearby ponds.

"Hey! There they are!" she exclaimed, "The whole lot of them!"

We looked in the direction she was pointing in to see three of the four missing Firbits, flopped out on the shore by the pond. We started to walk over there until Max stopped us, with a thoughtful frown.

"Hold on, you guys…something's up."

We looked back at the Firbits. Yeah, they looked pretty out-of-it.

"They've probably had too many of the _Lucky Charms, _if you know what I mean," I said, making hand motions like I was drinking from a bottle. Monica pursed her lips and shook her head.

"No…no, I don't think that's quite it. Something weird's definitely going on," she said, "Let's try talking to them."

We walked around the edge of the pond to the three short bearded men. Monica stepped up and leaned forward, examining them closely.

"Yoo-hooooo…" she said, waving a gloved hand in one of their faces. The Firbit in question groaned loudly and swatted her hand away, rolling to the side so his back was facing her. Monica pouted and crossed her arms.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" she complained. Ragnarok lifted his foot – a foot that was adorned with a large, heavy, painful-looking boot, I might add – and said, "I could kick him to get his attention, if you want."

Monica, Max and I, in unison, looked at him, then at his boot, then shook our heads.

"Uh, no, that's…"

"Yeah, let's not."

"We don't wanna KILL him…"

Ragnarok jutted out his lower lip but shrugged and put his foot down. Max went over to the other two to examine them, and frowned.

"It's the same with these two…man, I wonder what happened?" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his hat.

"—DAG-NABBIT, _BITE, _YOU DUMB ANIMALS!"

The four of us jumped nearly three feet in the air at the sudden shout that pierced the thick silence of the swamp. We turned to see the fourth Firbit – who looked perfectly normal as opposed to his other three companions – sitting on a log with a fishing pole and swearing colorfully at the pond in front of him.

"Aaaaaah, RATS…everyone's gone all weird, the fish ain't bitin'…what a drag," he muttered. Max tilted his head.

"'Gone all weird'? What happened to them?" he asked. The Firbit, apparently unsurprised by the sudden presence of four humans in the middle of an enchanted forest, just glanced our way once before tossing his line back in the water.

"It beats me. I got separated from my three buddies for not even two hours, 'n when I saw 'em again, they were all loopy like that," he said, "They won't go anywhere, y'see…so I'm just killin' time with a little fishing."

He pulled the line back and grumbled when he saw the bait still hanging innocently off the hook. He cleared his throat and looked to us again.

"Although, y'know what? I AM pretty thirsty. You wouldn't have somethin' to drink, now, wouldja?" He paused and sniffed the air, sighing contently. "Mmm~ Somethin' smells good, that's for sure!"

Monica elbowed Max.

"Max, the grape juice, remember?" she whispered. Max blinked and nodded, then pulled the green bottle from his bag and handed it to the Firbit. The Firbit's eyes lit up and he grabbed greedily at the juice, popping off the cork and taking a long swig.

"Ahhhh~ Just what I wanted. Thanks~"

He took another swig and made a giddy sound in the back of his throat, then handed his fishing rod to a bewildered-looking Max.

"Here, you can have my rod. Take some time for fishin', it'll clear your head," the Firbit grinned. Max blinked a few times and looked down at the fishing pole in his hands.

"Uh…'kay…" he said, for lack of a better response.

We went to another nearby pond to watch while Max practiced fishing. It took him a while to get it right – on one cast, as the line flew backward, it caught onto the front of my skirt and I ended up flying into the pond and getting a mouthful of icky swamp water. After apologizing over and over and over, Max resumed fishing and eventually got the hang of it.

An hour or so had passed before Monica finally yawned and said, "Max, maybe we should move on. We still need to figure out how to fix the other three Firbits."

Max pulled his line in and looked at her, nodding.

"Ahh, you're right. Okay."

He stowed the fishing rod in the item bag (I was still trying to figure out how it managed to fit in there), and we walked across a small wooden bridge nearby to get to another section of the swamp. This area was much bigger, with a dark, ominous lake rather than just a dingy old pond. There didn't seem to be any activity in the water, so we continued to another clearing through a small path of trees. There weren't any bodies of water here, but there was a giant ape-like creature slumped against the far side. I saw him and squeaked loudly, scurrying to hide behind Max.

"W-w-w-w-w-what the hell is that thing is he gonna eat us I don't wanna go over there—"

"—whoa, isn't that Master Utan?" Monica interrupted, squinting at the creature. Max blinked and looked at her.

"You know that thing? Is it safe to go closer?" he asked. I squeaked again and shook my head, but my protests went unnoticed as Monica nodded and said, "Yeah, it's all right. He's a pretty well-behaved monster, he doesn't hurt people.

She paused and looked back over to him, frowning.

"But it looks like something's wrong with him…is he okay?"

We started to walk over to Utan. I clutched the back of Max's suspenders and peered over his shoulder at the monster. Yes, he was a big softie in the game, but up close, he was a gigantic 20-foot ape with 3-foot claws and a mullet. I had a good reason to be freaked out.

We approached him cautiously, all except for Monica who walked up to him like it was nothing.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Monica asked. Utan peered curiously at us.

"Humans, hmm? Don't see _them _every day…" he said, in a smooth voice that betrayed his appearance. Then he added, with a thoughtful look, "Now that I think about it, there was another half-pint bumbling around earlier. This forest is startin' to get nice and crowded these days…"

Monica groaned at his straying off the original subject and shook her head in frustration.

"Nevermind that, you look like you're in pain! What happened?!" she asked. Utan let out a low rumbling chuckle and shook his head a bit.

"Ahhh…it's pitiful, really…but I was awful hungry, and I got my hands on a Forbidden Fruit. When I did, my whole body just up and froze like this, and I couldn't move." He made a movement with his head as though he were shrugging. "My fault for messin' with the Holy One's food. I bet the Holy One's pretty ticked off right about now."

We looked around at the red-and-purple fruits that were scattered around Utan.

"So you ate one of these, huh?" Monica reached down to pick one up and examined it. She sighed and shook her head, almost matronly. "It's a poison apple! No wonder you don't feel good!"

Utan chuckled again, only to let out a slight groan as one of his frozen joints unconsciously tried to flex.

"Well, never mind. Don't worry, you'll feel better after you rest for a while," Monica said, nodding.

"Who's the Holy One, by the way?" Ragnarok piped up, and I gaped at him for actually NOT remembering this part of the game.

"The Holy One is a great fish who's brought happiness to this forest," Utan replied. Monica also gaped.

"A…holy…_fish?"_ she asked with disbelief. Max snapped his fingers and turned to the bewildered redhead.

"Monica, maybe this Holy One has something to do with the three Firbits back there!" he suggested. Monica's expression turned from disbelief to that of slightly smug realization.

"…ahaaa…I think I'm starting to understand now. The Holy One must've bewitched those three somehow!" she exclaimed, face lighting up with excitement rather than the shock or disapproval it should have been. "I bet the 'Holy One' is really a big fish monster!"

Ragnarok gasped.

"Oh, you mean THAT gu—" he began, but I quickly hurried over to clamp a hand over his mouth before he could finish. Monica and Max gave us a confused look, and I forced a nonchalant laugh and waved my free hand.

"He's just a little slow, don't worry," I explained. They both relaxed and nodded. Max turned back to Utan and asked, "Where can we find this Holy One, Master Utan?"

Utan raised one of his hairy, larger-than-life hands toward where we'd just come from, waving it a bit.

"Didn't you see a big ol' swamp on your way here?" When all four of us nodded, he continued. "They say the Holy One lives in that swamp. I haven't see him myself yet."

Monica paused, looking thoughtful.

"Let me see…a big fishy monster named the 'Holy One' that hangs out in the swamps, bewitching people?" Her face lit up in a wide grin and she seemed to bite back a laugh. "This oughta be fun!"

"Ohhh, yeah. Definitely," I agreed, also resisting the urge to laugh (but for a different reason).

Max nodded in agreement.

"Right, let's go check it out!" he said, and headed back towards the other section of swamp. As the rest of us departed, we could hear Utan call out after us, "Hey! Don't forget to mind your manners when you're dealin' with the Holy One!"

As we walked, I still had my hand over Ragnarok's mouth. It must have bothered him, because he suddenly gave it a long, obnoxious lick. I recoiled my hand, letting out a squeak of disgust, and pulled the saliva-soaked glove off my hand, stowing it in my bag and glaring at him. He just snickered and pretended to look innocent.

We got out to the large lake we passed on the way to Utan. We stood around the edge, staring at the water and willing for something to happen, but it stayed as calm as when we'd first seen it. Finally, Monica seemed to get an idea, and she turned to Max.

"Hey, Max, why don't we try fishing it out?" she asked casually. Max jolted and did a double take at her as Ragnarok and I promptly burst out laughing.

"What?! FISH it out?!" he repeated incredulously. Monica shrugged and nodded.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we've got a fishing rod, you've got some experience fishing now, we know the Holy One likes poison apples…and after all, we've got plenty of bait!" With the last bit, she held up a makeshift bag filled with the poison apples that had surrounded Utan. She handed the bag to Max and nudged him forward.

"Go on, try it!" she said, flashing an irresistible smile. Max flushed just a bit, and Ragnarok and I exchanged looks. Well, THAT certainly wasn't in the game…

"Uhh…okay…" Max finally agreed, looking down at the rod uneasily. He took out one of the poison apples and stuck it on the hook, then cast the line out into the large lake.

While we waited for "The Holy One" to bite, Monica, Ragnarok and I sat down and talked for a bit (Max joined in occasionally).

"—decided to come here after I found him that night…" Monica was saying, explaining what had happened the night her father died. I nodded, and Ragnarok grunted as a sign that he was listening.

"That's…rough, Monica, I'm really sorry," I consoled, secretly cursing my noticeably high-pitched voice. Monica merely shrugged.

"Well, can't stay stuck on the past forever, y'know? I loved Father, I really did, but…he wouldn't want me to sit around moping and mourning."

"—YEAUGH!!"

We jolted and whipped around to see Max struggling with his fishing rod, the line tight and being yanked violently by something in the water.

"NOW we're talkin'!" Ragnarok exclaimed, jumping up. Monica and I got to our feet and the three of us ran over to Max, who was sweating and gritting his teeth as he tried to keep a firm grip on the handle.

"Come on, Max, you can do it!" Monica cheered.

"G-gah, it's—the line's gonna break, there's no way I'm gonna be able to--!" Max gasped out. Monica moved to stand behind him and wrapped her arms around his to grasp the handle with him.

"We'll all help! C'mon!" Monica nodded for us to join her, and we moved to form a sort of conga line behind Max, each one tugging on the one in front of them's waist to add to the strength that was pulling the line out of the water.

A few more tugs, and the water was suddenly splashing all over the place, and in a flash of bright magenta and purple, the hideous drag-queen-esque mess of a giant fish monster that was King Mardan shot to the surface.

He…looked…even worse in real life.

He shuddered, and his fins jiggled all over the place.

"Oooh, what's going on here?! There's a h-h-h-h-hook stuck in my _be~autiful _lips!" he exclaimed snootily, shaking his head…body…self furiously and getting water all over us. His eyes rolled over to us and I squeaked, scurrying behind Monica this time.

"Was this YOUR doing? I won't forgive this!"

Monica, unfazed, clenched her fists and pointed at him.

"You! You're the one that made the little ones act so strangely! You must change them back!" she demanded.

"M-M-M-Monica I think th-they prefer to be called 'Firbits', 'little ones' is a l-little bit ins-sulting…" I managed to stammer out, watching the gigantic creepy fish (not that he could come out of the water and get me, but he was still terrifying up close!).

Monica made a 'tch' sound and looked at me.

"We don't have time to be politically correct!"

King Mardan's eyes rolled back and he sighed dramatically.

"Ahhh, yes…more victims of my beauty," he said, "Beauty _can _be a curse, you know." His eyes flicked to each of us. "…anyway, why are you here?"

"I already told you! We want you to change those little Firbits back to the way they used to be!" Monica flailed.

Another sigh from King Mardan, and we all exchanged looks. This was going to take a long, LONG time.

"Such a thing is so very simple~" he said, and we all inhaled to breathe a sigh of relief until he added, "But nothing comes for free, you know~ Business is business, and _eeeverything _is business!"

We all groaned and facepalmed, and Monica muttered something under her breath. Max, innocent but determined as ever, ignored the groaning and asked, "So, what do you want us to do?"

King Mardan giggled – yes, you heard me right, he GIGGLED – and pursed his gigantic lips at Max with a wink.

"Ooooh~ The little boy understands~!" he said gleefully, and Max visibly shuddered at the tone of voice King Mardan used to say 'little boy', "Now, listen carefully, because I won't say this again."

He paused to randomly blow a kiss into the air, and Monica and I shrieked as the tiny pink heart produced from it came flying towards us. Once we'd recovered, King Mardan continued.

"As everyone knows, I'm very fond of beautiful things." He winked at Max again and Ragnarok snickered when Max shifted uncomfortably. "But, here's the thing: recently, you know, I've become a bit…well, _dirty." _

"He needs to stop making everything he _says _sound dirty…" I muttered.

"Oh, it's so embarrassing!" King Mardan grieved, oblivious to my comment, "But listen to this! There's a fish in these ponds called the Priscleen Fish that can clean up aaaall of the dirt from my body~ So, what I'd like you to do is to go over there and…_catch it _for me~! You've got all that fishing gear, so you may as well use it, don't you think? Do you get my drift? Eh? Eeeeh~?"

Monica faux-sobbed and facepalmed, but Max nodded.

"Okay. And when we get it, you gotta turn those three Firbits back to normal," he reminded. King Mardan huffed.

"Yes, I know, I know, you don't have to tell a man twice."

Monica suddenly snapped out of her slump and gaped at King Mardan.

"…WHAT? YOU'RE A _GUY?" _she repeated incredulously with wide eyes. Ragnarok and I cracked up, while Max covered his mouth to stifle his chuckles. King Mardan seemed to pout, then winked and disappeared under the water with a sly "I'll be wa-aiting~".

We all exchanged looks again.

"…well. Guess I'd better get to work, then," Max said sheepishly, with a small laugh. Monica sighed and nodded.

"What a pain…to think, that a FISH would make us go to all this trouble," she muttered.

We made our way to the first clearing with the two ponds and the Firbits. Max set up his fishing gear while Monica sat nearby on a log and talked with him. Ragnarok wandered around the treeline to see what sticks he could find, and I sat by the higher-than-life Firbits, boredly trying to get a response from them.

"Soooo…what are your favorite colors?"

"…muuughhhh…"

"Animals?"

"Shattaaap…"

"…do you have any like…baby Firbit pets at home? A green rabbit with pink eyes and deer antlers, maybe?"

"Go awayyyy…"

I huffed and turned my head to look at Max and Monica, who were engaged in a rather cheerful-looking conversation, and felt myself grinning like an idiot. So I ship them! Sue me!

I saw Max suddenly jolt and start pulling the line back in. About two minutes later, he had the most adorable little fish hanging off of his line. I stood up and ran over to get a closer look. Its scales were crisp, silver and sparkly, and its big, shiny eyes darted all over the place.

"Aww…it's so cuuuute…can we keep it, Max?? Mardan'll never know the difference, I promise!" I tugged on Max's sleeve like a four-year-old and he laughed.

"No, we'd better get it to him now…the sooner we can help these Firbits, the better."

With the fish still on the line, we gathered up Ragnarok and headed back to the lake, where King Mardan was waiting with anticipation.

"Well??" he asked impatiently. Max beamed and held up the fish, and King Mardan let out a pleased giggle.

"You caught it~ Excellent~ This lovely Priscleen will kiss aaaall the grime off my body and make me look_stunning _again~!" he exclaimed.

"At least buy the poor thing DINNER first…" I huffed, and Monica bit back a snicker and elbowed me. Max handed over the fish and gave King Mardan an expectant look.

"Now, come on, you promised. Return those three back there to normal," he reminded calmly. King Mardan siiiiiighed dramatically again.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said, "Is _this _what you were after?"

He winked and blew another kiss. The four of us immediately started exclaiming in disgust and flailing to keep the produced heart away from us.

"OH GROSS!"

"NO NO NO THAT WASN'T WHAT WE WANTED _EW!!_"

"UGH, YUCK, I THINK I GOT IT ON ME!"

Once we saw the pink heart fly over our heads and into the clearing behind us, we calmed down. Max looked to King Mardan again.

"So those three are back to normal now, r-right?" he asked, trying to sound calm despite his voice cracking from the outburst a second ago. King Mardan shrugged.

"Well, why don't you go have a look for yourself~?" he suggested, "Please excuse me. I wish you all the best!" He let out another girlish giggle and disappeared under the water.

"…well, he's certainly…cheerful, I'll give him that…" Monica said, after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah…cheerful…one could almost say he's really ga—" Ragnarok began, but I elbowed him and he snickered, not bothering to finish his remark. Max chuckled and looked towards the clearing.

"Let's go and see if they're okay," he said. We nodded and headed back to the clearing.

The three Firbits, along with the fourth that was still normal, were all standing in a group, talking to each other excitedly. The fourth one saw us and waved.

"He-ey!"

Max waved and walked over with us.

"How is everyone?" he asked. The Firbit laughed and gestured to his companions.

"Oh, they suddenly returned to normal! I can't tell ye how happy I am!" he said, beaming. The other three Firbits seemed confused, and were looking to each other for some kind of confirmation.

"Ohh…what in the world have I been doin'? I cannot remember a darn thing…"

"Last thing I remember, I was thirsty and drank some of that swamp water…"

"I can't remember anything past that, either! What in the world happened to us?!"

"Well, DUH, you drank swamp water, what did you think would happen?!" I cut in. Monica nodded slightly in agreement.

"You've all been under the 'Holy One's' spell," she explained. The Firbits seemed confused, so she continued. "He's a fish monster that lives in the swamp…you guys almost ended up trapped here forever!"

The Firbits all gasped in unison, and I nearly fell on top of Ragnarok laughing.

"Whoa! That's crazy!" one of them said.

"—well? What are we gonna do about Holly?" another asked, completely changing the subject.

"Oh, sure! We gotta look for Holly!"

I facepalmed, and Monica laughed a bit, trying to calm them down.

"Hold on, guys, hold on. I think we should come up with a plan first. Let's head back to Sindain to regroup," she suggested. Everyone nodded and gave their vocal approval, and we walked as a group back to the entrance of the swamp to head back to Sindain, where the others were still waiting for us.

* * *

**MEANWHILE…**

"…got any twos?" Hades asked boredly, looking around at Aurora and the remaining three Firbits seated at the table with him. Aurora groaned and threw down her cards.

"Oh, COME ON! We're playing POKER, Hades!"


End file.
